SAN DIEGO – Welcome to Slam Diego.
Baseball has never seen a power play like that made by the San Diego Padres, who hit their fifth grand slam in six games – this time by rookie Jake Cronenworth – to team up with Trent Grisham’s three home games Saturday night in a 13- 2 route from the Houston Astros.
The Padres added mannequins wearing team clothes to the home team’s deck in right field, and Cronenworth’s shot in the second inning landed on someone holding a no. 4 Slam Diego jersey wears.
Cronenworth said it was much more impressive that he was the fifth Padres player to hit a grand slam this week. San Diego has won six in a row.
“It’s someone else stepping up every single night,” he said. “Grish had three home games last night, Manny [Machado] hit a home game last night, Wil [Myers] beat a home team last night, Zach Davies had an incredible outing. It started with him shutting down his mischief and getting us back into the dugout as quickly as possible. “
Cronenworth threw a 3-1 pitch from Humberto Castellanos into the home side’s right-hand side deck to give the Padres an 11-1 lead. It was San Diego’s third homer of the inning.
“Put a good swing at a good pitch,” Cronenworth said. “Just keep my approach in the middle. That just happened a good go at it.”
Cronenworth, along with outfielder Tommy Pham in an offseason trade with Tampa Bay, became the 20th Padres rookie to hit a grand slam. It was his third homer of the year, and he had his first game with three hits.
Padres manager Jayce Tingler said it was “impressive, but no shock” that Cronenworth hit a grand slam.
“He keeps hanging good at-bats every night. For him to get a pitch there and get it out of the ballpark was no surprise, because he has great at-bats. It’s good to see him. get rewarded, “Tingler said.
Earlier in the week, the Padres became the first team in history to hit grand slams in four straight games during a sweep of the Texas Rangers in a home-and-home series.
That attack began with Fernando Tatis Jr.’s slam Monday night on a 3-0 count with a seven-run lead, rekindling a debate over etiquette and baseball’s so-called “unwritten rules.” Myers hit a slam on Tuesday, Machado had a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning Wednesday night and Eric Hosmer confirmed the run with a historic shot on Thursday night.
Hosmer rode with the bases that were loaded Friday night, but grounded out.
On Saturday night, Myers opened the second inning with a homer and Grisham hit a three-run shot with one out – with Cronenworth on board on a single. Tatis was hit by a pitch from rookie Brandon Bielak (3-1), who made way for Castellanos. Both teams have been warned by the umpires, and Martin Maldonado of Houston will be suspended from the dugout.
Grisham also hit a leadoff shot and Machado had a solo shot with one out in the first.
The six homers tied Padres’ home record on August 9 against Arizona.
Grisham recently moved on to the leadoff spot.
“Of course last night he was really good on the plate,” Tingler said. “Probably the most impressive was the last one, he could go opposite field. The ball just exploded from his ball. It was kind of no doubt.”
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