The San Diego Padres scored four runs in the sixth inning on Sunday to defeat the visiting New York Yankees 5-2 and avert a three-game sweep.
Jeremiah Estrada (2-0), who came on in relief of Padres starter Joe Musgrove with one out and a run home in the fifth, struck out all five batters he faced and came away with the win.
Jake Cronenworth, Ha-Seong Kim and Luis Arraez each had two of the Padres’ nine hits. Kim, Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. each drove in a run in the sixth, where the Yankees walked two batters and made one error.
The Padres had lost four of their past six games overall and were 1-6 over their past seven at home. They were hitting just .119 in dropping the first two games of the series with New York, getting outscored 12-1 in the process.
The Yankees had a four-game winning streak come to an end and had won 11 of their past 13 games entering Sunday. They took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth after Anthony Volpe extended his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games with a single off Musgrove. Volpe stole second and scored easily when Juan Soto lashed a double to right-center that right fielder Tatis appeared to misjudge.
Musgrove was pulled in favor of Estrada, who struck out Aaron Judge on three pitches and Alex Verdugo on four.
In his 5 1/3 innings, Musgrove gave up six hits, the one run and no walks, and he struck out five.
But things quickly went awry for New York and starter Clarke Schmidt.
Cronenworth reached on an error to open the sixth, and Schmidt walked Manny Machado before left-hander Victor Gonzalez took over on the mound.
Pinch hitter Donovan Solano walked, loading the bases. Jackson Merrill then hit a hard bouncer that went for a fielder’s choice as the tying run scored.
Kim’s safety squeeze succeeded when first baseman Anthony Rizzo tried to barehand the bunt and make a throw home, but he bobbled the ball and everybody was safe, with the Padres going up 2-1. It was San Diego’s first lead of the series.
Arraez later lined an RBI single for a 3-1 edge, and the fourth run came in when Tatis hit a dribbler down the third base line for a single.
In five-plus innings, Schmidt (5-3) gave up three hits and three walks. He was charged with two runs (one earned) and struck out six.
Estrada came back out for the seventh and fanned Giancarlo Stanton, Rizzo and Gleyber Torres, lowering his ERA to 0.59 in 11 games covering 15 1/3 innings.
Back-to-back doubles by Cronenworth and Machado to begin the seventh padded the lead to 5-1.
Verdugo slugged a homer to lead off the ninth against closer Robert Suarez, who came on in the eighth and ended up recording his 15th save of the season.
–Field Level Media
