Fernando Tatis Jr. will continue the pursuit of his third consecutive 20-home run season when the San Diego Padres go for a second straight road win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
Tatis followed a game-opening single by Luis Arraez with his 17th homer in a three-run first inning against Giants All-Star Logan Webb in Friday’s 5-0 win.
The 25-year-old Tatis, who belted 22 homers as a rookie in 2019, has missed reaching the 20-homer mark just twice his career – during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when he hit 17 in 59 games, and in 2022, when he sat out the entire season while injured and on suspension.
He led the National League in homers in 2021 with 42 in just 130 games, then returned last year to belt 25 in 141 games.
He had 14 homers in his first 80 games this season before suffering a stress fracture in his right thigh, which sidelined him for 59 games. He didn’t homer in his first six games after returning on Sept. 2, but has gone deep in each of his past three outings.
Tatis said he’s feeling great as the Padres (83-65) duel the Arizona Diamondbacks (82-65), New York Mets (81-66) and Atlanta Braves (80-67) for the National League’s three wild-card playoff spots.
“I’m in a really good place right now,” Tatis said. “I feel really good moving forward. I feel really confident and I feel like I can do anything out there on the baseball field.”
Tatis didn’t homer, but went 3-for-10 with a double when the Giants (72-76) took two of three from the Padres last week in San Diego.
He had a first-inning single as part of a three-run uprising when the Padres jumped on Giants starter Mason Black in last Friday’s series opener. Manny Machado capped the scoring spurt with a home run.
Black (0-3, 7.50 ERA) settled down to allow just one more run in his 4 2/3 innings, saddling him with a loss in his first-ever appearance against the Padres. He will take the mound against San Diego on Saturday with growing confidence.
“I’m just going to try and keep putting everything together,” the rookie said. “I feel like there have been some good moments and some rough ones out there. Just continue to develop and learn.”
The 24-year-old right-hander remains in search of his first big-league win. He’s made six career appearances, five having been starts.
The Padres have scheduled right-hander Joe Musgrove (5-5, 4.54) to duel Black.
Like his counterpart, Musgrove was beaten by Saturday’s opponent in his most recent start, a 7-6 loss to the Giants last Sunday. He served up home runs to Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos, all in a six-run fourth inning.
The 31-year-old has been hit hard in both previous meetings with the Giants this season, allowing 10 runs in 10 innings. He will be making his 16th career start against San Francisco, having gone 4-5 with a 4.46 ERA in the first 15.
-Field Level Media
