The veterans in the middle of the order picked up rookie pitcher Ryan Weathers, who had one of the best starts of his nascent career.
Wil Myers had five RBIs and the two hitters in front of him contributed big as well, as the Padres beat the Washington Nationals 7-4 Tuesday night at Petco Park.
A pair of three-run innings, with every run driven in by cleanup hitter Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and Myers, were the main support for Weathers, who got the win after allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Padres began the bottom of the fourth inning with a double by Machado, single by Hosmer and home run by Myers. The Nationals responded by beginning the top of the fifth with a single by Starlin Castro, double by Yan Gomes and home run by Josh Harrison to tie the game 3-3.
After Trent Grisham singled to start the fifth and Jake Cronenworth drew a one-out walk, Machado’s single put the Padres back up. Hosmer followed with a single that scored Cronenworth, and Myers’ sacrifice fly drove in Machado to make it 6-3.
Myers followed Machado’s double in the seventh with a double, giving him his second five-RBI game this season, the other coming April 12 at Pittsburgh. Machado finished 3-for-4 and scored three runs on his 29th birthday.
Weathers was pulled following Juan Soto’s one-out solo homer in the sixth inning. Austin Adams ended the inning by sandwiching a pair of walks between two strikeouts.
Emilio Pagán got the first two outs of the seventh but also walked two before he was replaced by Tim Hill, who struck out Soto for the second straight night. Drew Pomeranz worked a scoreless eighth, and Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth to increase his major league-leading save total to 26.
Weathers had gone longer (5 2/3 innings) in one of his previous nine starts, but he had never been as efficient as he was Tuesday.
After Harrison’s blast over the wall in straightaway center, Weathers retired the next three batters on eight pitches, and his total stood at 64, three fewer than his lowest total through even four innings in any of his previous seven starts that lasted that long this season. He finished having thrown 71 pitches.
The 21-year-old left-hander was throwing strikes, something that at times has eluded him and driven up his pitch count.
It also helps to pick off one runner and have another thrown out at the plate.
Weathers ended the first inning with his major league-leading sixth pickoff, catching Soto too far off the bag and having Hosmer and Cronenworth get Soto in a rundown.
The second out of the second inning came when Gomes doubled to the corner in left field and Jurickson Profar picked it up and threw to Fernando Tatis Jr., who rifled a throw home to get Castro by several feet.
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