The San Diego Padres (38-28) avenged Monday’s bitter defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers (40-28) with a unique offensive barrage on Tuesday, exploiting their opponent’s shorthanded pitching staff in an 11-1 win. Oddly enough, only one of those runs came via a homer, and it was unleashed by the perpetually hitting-challenged Martin Maldonado. That was only the beginning of the peculiarities that transpired in Petco Park.
After LA manager Dave Roberts brutally let Matt Sauer suffer through a 111-pitch, nine-run relief outing, Kike Hernandez took the mound in order to further preserve the taxed bullpen. Protected with his pitching helmet, the two-time World Series champion allowed one run on three hits and walked two batters in what was a historic 2 1/3 innings of work.
It wasn’t pretty, but the veteran did enough to get his team to the end of the game without allowing the Friars to cause much more harm. Padres All-Star center fielder Jackson Merrill commended Hernandez for his effort, going as far as to dole out lavish praise that had reporters bursting into laughter and scratching their heads.
Kike Hernandez saves the pen, but Padres even up the series with a monster showing
“{For what it’s worth}: Jackson Merrill said Kiké Hernández threw him the nastiest cutter he had ever seen,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez posted on X. “I asked if he was being sarcastic. He swore he wasn’t.”
The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year runner-up is either joking or he is insane. There is no other possibility. All that matters to the Padres and their fans, though, is that he is a terrific talent. Merrill was one of five San Diego players to record a multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and run scored. Those knocks did not come off Hernandez, however.
The punishing hurler, which is essentially how Merrill described him, induced a ground ball to retire the 22-year-old in the seventh inning. He has now logged three relief appearances in 2025, tallying a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings. He is a surprisingly useful arm for a ballclub that has more than a dozen pitchers on the shelf. His presence mitigated the damage on what was a disastrous evening.
Franchise great Manny Machado added to his stellar campaign with a three-hit, five-RBI performance. Xander Bogaerts was the only other hitter to notch multi RBIs (two), and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez had two doubles and crossed home plate a team-high four times. Dylan Cease threw seven shutout innings, recording a whopping 11 strikeouts in front of the incredibly appreciative home crowd. Skipper Mike Shildt watched his guys put forth a complete effort.
The confident Padres will try to take the series on Wednesday, when they battle another unpredictable hurler in Justin Wrobleski. The Dodgers, and apparently Jackson Merrill, hope that they can avoid using Kike Hernandez in that one.
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