Yastrzemski Splash Two-Run Homer
San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres in Game 1
San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski follows through on a two-run home run against the San Diego Padres during the fourth inning of the first game of a baseball doubleheader Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
2020.09.25 – Mike Yastrzemski returned from an injury to splash a two-run shot into McCovey Cove and the San Francisco Giants beat the san Diego Padres 5-4 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Wilmer Flores hit the other go-ahead homer in the fourth, Friday for a key victory in a crowded NL playoff race.
“A hungry team that’s trying to continue to make a little playoff run, I knew they were going to come into this game aggressive with a good game plan,” Paddack said.
The Padres clinched home-field advantage for the wild-card round next week with the Cardinals’ loss to Milwaukee in the first game of a doubleheader. San Diego secured the National League’s No. 4 seed headed to its first postseason in 14 years.
The Giants (29-28) bounced back — barely — after missing a key chance losing in 11 innings to Colorado on Thursday. Wild card-leading Cincinnati began the day 29-28 and was playing a night game at Minnesota.
Tyler Anderson (4-3) allowed five hits over six solid innings, striking out four and overcoming four walks. Tony Watson gave up an RBI single to Fernando Tatís Jr. in the seventh and made a throwing error past first baseman Brandon Belt for another run before Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly.
The Padres were to be the home team in the second game, which is the makeup of a postponement in San Diego on Sept. 12 after Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson received a false positive COVID-19 test result.
Yastrzemski hit his second career splash hit homer in the bay, also doing so July 29 against the Padres.
2020.09.25 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
2020.09.25 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres) See video
Tommy Pham hit an RBI double in the second before Brandon Crawford’s homer off Paddack (4-5) tied it in the bottom half.
Paddack was done after 3 2/3 innings and three home runs among his eight hits surrendered. He seems unconcerned about finding himself for the playoffs.
“We feel like he’s right there and really close,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “I’m sure he’s frustrated because he hasn’t been able to grab the traction he wanted being able to stack a couple good wins back to back.”
San Diego (34-23) is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, when the Padres lost in the division series for a second straight year.
REFRESHED FERNANDO
Tatís expressed feeling refreshed and well rested after he had a break Wednesday in the series finale against the Angels at Petco Park then a day off Thursday.
He went 1 for 4. Tatís is 5 for his last 31 the past seven games and 6 of 41 spanning the last nine.
“Just resting, seeing the game from a different side, seeing if I could learn some stuff … just enjoy the day off,” he said. His father offered some encouragement.
“Right now it’s just trust it, when this game attacks this way sometimes players lose confidence,” he said. “This game is hard for everybody.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: RHP Mike Clevinger received a cortisone shot Friday for his troublesome elbow. General manager A.J. Preller said the Padres have not ruled out Clevinger making a start in the wild-card round next week. Clevinger left his start Wednesday after just one inning against the Angels. Tests showed he has a right posterior elbow impingement. “I think we got really good news,” Preller said. Clevinger is expected to rest for 48 hours and then attempt to play catch. He was obtained in a blockbuster trade with Cleveland on Aug. 31. With questions around Clevinger, RHP Dinelson Lamet and RHP Zach Davies would be San Diego’s likely 1-2 playoff pitchers.
Giants: OF Yastrzemski, who had missed seven straight starts and six games with a mild right calf strain, returned to start the opener and the hope was he would play Game 2, manager Gabe Kapler said.
UP NEXT
RHP Jeff Samardzija comes off the injured list from a lengthy shoulder injury and rehab to pitch the second game as the 29th player for the doubleheader. He is 0-2 making just three starts this season and hasn’t pitched since Aug. 7.
“This is an opportunity he has been asking for, been pushing for,” Kapler said.
Lamet (3-1, 2.07 ERA) takes the mound for the Padres in the nightcap trying to win a second straight decision. He is 1-1 over his last seven outings.
RELATED: See below 2020.09.25 (SF Giants vs. San Diego Padres – Gm 2)
Read more at: San Francisco Giants Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco Giants, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
49ERS FIT – FREE 4-DAY PASS
EMI Sports Central – EMI Sports Bay Area: Join the conversation on sports news for SF Bay Area teams: Follow @EMIsports on Twitter, “Like” us on Facebook and sign up for our FREE email newsletters.
Grisham hits walk-off homer in Padres’ 6-5 win Game 2
San Diego Padres’ Trent Grisham is congratulated by Profar (10) and Garcia (5) after hitting a walk-off home run against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
2020.09.25 – Trent Grisham hit a game-ending three-run homer with one out in the seventh inning to lift the Padres to a 6-5 victory and a doubleheader split with the San Francisco Giants.
Fernando Tatís Jr. homered for the first time since Sept. 6 with a two-run drive in the third, but Dinelson Lamet’s injury in the top of the fourth left the Padres bench looking dejected.
The big right-hander gave them a scare when he reported biceps tightness and made an early exit Friday night — but, for now, Lamet will throw in a couple of days with expectations of pitching Wednesday at Petco Park in San Diego’s first postseason berth in 14 years.
“Everybody is pretty optimistic right now,” manager Jayce Tingler said.
Projected No. 1 playoff starter Lamet became the second Padres pitcher to go down injured in three games. Mike Clevinger is dealing with an elbow injury that forced him to an early exit Wednesday against the Angels.
“First and foremost, he’s very routine oriented. He understands where we’re at in the season and understands what’s at stake, so I was very happy the way he communicated and let us know,” Tingler said of Lamet. “Coming out, feeling pretty good right now. We’ll know more tomorrow and probably the next day, naturally, after he throws. The day after is usually where he is a little bit sore and tender.”
2020.09.25 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres Gm 2) See video
2020.09.25 (San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres Gm 2) See video
The Giants (29-29) dropped back after Cincinnati (30-28) clinched its first playoff berth since 2013 with a victory at Minnesota. The Marlins (30-28) also secured a postseason spot.
“I’m pleased that we won the first game, it was an important game for us to win, put us in a position where we do control our destiny,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “We put ourselves in position to win that second game, we needed to win that game.”
Grisham hit a drive into the elevated right-field arcade off Sam Coonrod (0-2).
San Diego was the home team in the second game, the makeup of a postponement at Petco Park on Sept. 12 after Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson received a false positive COVID-19 test result.
So, Grisham delivered a walkoff homer on the road as a the home team in the seventh inning.
“It was just kind of weird,” Grisham said. “It was a different kind of feeling, but it was fun.”
Luis Patino (1-0) pitched the seventh for his first major league win.
San Diego right fielder Wil Myers also left the game after the third as a precaution because of tight quadriceps.
Earlier Friday, the Padres clinched home-field advantage for the wild-card round next week with the Cardinals’ loss to Milwaukee in the first game of a doubleheader. San Diego secured the National League’s No. 4 seed.
San Francisco right-hander Jeff Samardzija came off the injured list from a lengthy shoulder injury and rehab to pitch the second game as the 29th player for the doubleheader. It was just his fourth start and first appearance since Aug. 7.
San Diego pitcher Chris Paddack expected San Francisco to swing for the fences with its playoff hopes at stake, and that’s exactly what happened in the Giants’ 5-4 Game 1 win.
Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead homer in the fourth and Mike Yastrzemski returned from an injury to splash a two-run shot into McCovey Cove the same inning.
Flores added a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the nightcap.
Tyler Anderson (4-3) allowed five hits over six solid innings, striking out four and overcoming four walks. Tony Watson gave up an RBI single to Tatís in the seventh and made a throwing error past first baseman Brandon Belt for another run before Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly.
Yastrzemski hit his second career splash hit homer in the bay, also doing so July 29 against the Padres.
REFRESHED FERNANDO
Tatís expressed feeling refreshed and well rested after he had a break Wednesday in the series finale against the Angels at Petco Park then a day off Thursday.
He went 2 for 7 in the doubleheader, making Tatís just 6 for 34 over his last eight games and 7 of 44 spanning the past nine.
“Just resting, seeing the game from a different side, seeing if I could learn some stuff … just enjoy the day off,” he said.
His father offered some encouragement.
“Right now it’s just trust it, when this game attacks this way sometimes players lose confidence,” he said. “This game is hard for everybody.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Clevinger received a cortisone shot Friday for his troublesome elbow. General manager A.J. Preller said the Padres have not ruled out Clevinger making a start in the wild-card round next week. Clevinger left his start Wednesday after just one inning against the Angels. Tests showed he has a right posterior elbow impingement. “I think we got really good news,” Preller said. Clevinger is expected to rest for 48 hours and then attempt to play catch. He was obtained in a blockbuster trade with Cleveland on Aug. 31. With questions around Clevinger and Lamet, RHP Zach Davies also could be in the mix.
“We’ll have to deal with those when we get there,” Tingler said of contingency plans.
Giants: OF Yastrzemski, who had missed seven straight starts and six games with a mild right calf strain, played both games as hoped.
UP NEXT
The Giants didn’t announce a Saturday night starter but it would be RHP Johnny Cueto’s turn. After the doubleheader, Tingler named Davies (7-4, 2.85 ERA) his starter.
RELATED: See 2020.09.05 (SF Giants vs. Arizona D-backs) Bumgarner
Read more at: San Francisco Giants Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the San Francisco Giants, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
49ERS FIT – FREE 4-DAY PASS
EMI Sports Central – EMI Sports Bay Area: Join the conversation on sports news for SF Bay Area teams: Follow @EMIsports on Twitter, “Like” us on Facebook and sign up for our FREE email newsletters.