The Padres had one heck of an eighth inning Friday, powering them to an 11-8 win over the Royals that wasn’t as easy as it looked.
An eye-popping nine Friars crossed the plate to turn a 3-2 deficit into what appeared to be an insurmountable 11-3 lead.
Kansas City didn’t see it that way and scored five in the bottom of the ninth, four with two outs, to give the Padres a not inconsiderable scare.
The rally forced closer Robert Suarez into service with the bases loaded. And he wasn’t exactly money, giving up a two runs on a single and a fly ball from Nelson Velázquez – who represented the tying run – that reached the warning track. But no matter the distance, that was the final out as the Padres held on and Suarez earned his 17th save.
But back to the eighth. The first seven Padres reached base, all on singles, with two runs crossing the plate on Jake Cronenworth’s knock and one each on hits by Manny Machado, Donovan Solano and Jackson Merrill. That put San Diego up 7-3.
After a strike out by Luis Campusano, Ha-Seong Kim loaded the bases again with a single, bringing up Luis Arraez, who started it all, for his second at-bat of the inning. And his second hit, for that matter, but this time he drove in two, as Solano and Merrill scored.
Jurickson Profar and Cronenworth joined him in logging two hits in the inning and they each drove in a run. Profar’s single brought in Kim, while Cronenworth managed the Friars’ only extra-base hit in the big inning, a double, to score Arraez.
The rally impressed manager Mike Shildt, who said his hitters did “just a fantastic job the whole night.”
Joe Musgrove takes the mound Saturday in the second game of the three-game series, part of a six-game road trip. Michael King follows Sunday.
