SAN DIEGO _ Chris Davis stepped into the Petco Park batter's box in the top of the eighth inning Tuesday with three strikeouts in his three at-bats on the day, 14 strikeouts in 16 hitless at-bats on the three-city road trip and 18 straight at-bats without a hit. He began the road trip with a .192 batting average, his highest after a game since the end of 2017, but he came to the plate hitting .178.
Naturally, he proceeded to hit the tiebreaking home run in the Orioles' 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, supplying the lead that led to a winning road trip and Baltimore's first month without a losing record since August 2017.
The home run off San Diego left-hander Matt Strahm was Davis' eighth of the year, first since July 5 and first off a left-handed pitcher since he homered off former teammate Zack Britton on Aug. 24 of last year. With a distance projected by Statcast of 417 feet, it was Davis' longest home run of the year.
Davis' home run came on an 0-1 slider from Strahm, turning it around and sending it over the center-field fence to break a 5-all tie and give the Orioles (36-71) their first lead against the Padres this season in any inning other than the first. The victory allowed Baltimore to avoid a four-game series sweep (including two losses to San Diego in late June) and finish July with a 12-12 record after entering the month with 24 wins.
Baltimore added another two runs in the eighth inning as Trey Mancini, one of a handful of Orioles who are candidates to be traded by Wednesday's 4 p.m. deadline, delivered a two-run single as the Orioles rallied back from a 4-0 deficit. Mancini exited on a double switch before the bottom of the eighth.
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s leadoff home run off Orioles starter Tom Eshelman was his second in as many days, making the 20-year-old the youngest player in history with leadoff homers on consecutive days.
Two batters later, former Orioles infielder Manny Machado homered off Eshelman. It was the Padres' 16th home run against Orioles pitching, setting a record for the most home runs by any team in a season series of four or fewer games.
Wil Myers nearly added the 17th after Eric Hosmer singled, doubling off the right-field wall to bring in another run off Eshelman.
After getting out of the first, Eshelman, a native of nearby Carlsbad, allowed one run over the next three innings. A single by Machado in the third helped the Padres (50-57) load the bases, and the Orioles couldn't convert Francisco Mejia's one-out grounder into a double play as a run came home.
Then, the resiliency the Orioles have shown in the past month carried into their final game of July. Jace Peterson scored Mancini with an opposite-field single, and Richie Martin brought two more Orioles home with a bases-loaded single up the middle after Davis struck out for the inning's second out.
The Padres added another run in the fifth via an error and two infield singles, and a review confirmed the latter after Davis made a diving stop at first but bobbled the ball before tossing it to pitcher Gabriel Ynoa covering the bag. Renato Nunez tied the game with a two-run single off Strahm in the seventh, setting the stage for Davis to provide the lead an inning later.
Shawn Armstrong entered in the eighth and completed a six-out save. Orioles closer Mychal Givens, another trade candidate, was not used, but he pitched three times from Thursday to Sunday and allowed a run in each outing.
