The Padres took another step towards clinching a playoff berth on Wednesday evening by beating the Mets 7-4. The Padres and Mets traded runs in the 1st inning, and then the Padres regained the lead in the 2nd inning thanks to an RBI-single from Jake Cronenworth. Starling Marte tied the game at 2 with a solo homer in the bottom of the 4th, which set the stage for Manny Machado to show that he has regained his form. After a long slump, Machado had homered in 2 of his last 3 games. With one out and the game tied 2-2 in the 5th inning, Machado blasted a grand slam to break the game wide open. It was the kind of momentum shifting moment that would seemingly secure a victory for the Padres. While Nick Pivetta didn't have his best stuff, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits in just 4.2 innings, the cushion Machado's grand slam provided was more than enough for San Diego's bullpen. Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez would allow just one run in 4.1 innings of relief.
Things got tense in the 7th inning, when Estrada ran into some trouble. He allowed a leadoff home run to Francisco Alvarez, and then issued a walk to Cedric Mullins. After he got Francisco Lindor to pop out, Mike Shildt opted to bring in Mason Miller with Juan Soto striding to the plate representing the game-tying run. Soto hit what was nearly a game-tying 2-run homer that just went foul, a call which was confirmed upon replay, but Miller would go on to strike out Soto looking and Pete Alonso swinging to escape the jam. Miller returned to pitch the 8th inning, and pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning, retiring all five batters he faced. Robert Suarez pitched a clean 9th, and the Padres improved to 83-69. Randy Vasquez will have a chance to secure a series win for the Padres in Thursday morning's finale.
You can watch the Jamul Casino Resort Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Mike Shildt's postgame press conference.