It was a great night all around for the Padres Thursday as they defeated the Washington Nationals 5-4 thanks in large part to the return of their young phenom Fernando Tatis Jr. After being away from the big league club since his hamstring injury on April 28th, Tatis Jr. seemingly picked up right where he left off, going 1 for 2 with 2 walks, a run scored, and his usual infectious energy on the basepaths and in the dugout.
Cane is being chopped.Repeat: Cane is being chopped!@tatis_jr • #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/LWftrZr0ax
— San Diego Padres (@Padres)
June 7, 2019 Another bright spot for the Padres was the overall performance of starter Joey Lucchesi. Despite allowing 4 runs and throwing 64 pitches in just the first two innings of the game, the 26 year old left-hander bounced back to put in arguably one of the most gutsy performances of his young career, as he settled himself down and only allowed 1 additional hit over his next 3 innings of work to provide some much needed protection for a Padres bullpen that has already been heavily taxed this season.
"Just made a mental adjustment... took a step back, took a deep breath, told myself I gotta do this for the boys."@Padres starter Joey Lucchesi talks about bouncing back after a difficult opening frame & gives credit to Austin Hedges.#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/D3ewfDT4sz
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD)
June 7, 2019 After Lucchesi finished the 5th, Tatis proved to be a catalyst for the Padres offense once again as he followed a leadoff single from Manuel Margot with one of his own. Tatis would then advance to 2nd on a wild pitch from Nationals starter Patrick Corbin, and after a walk from Wil Myers to load the bases, Manny Machado hit a a hard ground ball to shortstop Trea Turner that suddenly turned into 2 runs thanks to an error and the typical aggresive baserunning from Fernando Tatis Jr. that Padre fans have been waiting to see again for the last few weeks.
Fernando Tatís Jr: GAME. CHANGER.We're tied!#FriarFaithful | @Padres pic.twitter.com/ieYKnVgDda
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD)
June 7, 2019 The Padres would take the lead later that inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Franmil Reyes, and the bullpen took care of it from there, as the quartet of Matt Wisler, Trey Wingenter, Craig Stammen, and (of course) Kirby Yates combined to retire the final 12 Nationals batters of the game in order.
