For the first time this season the Padres played a game into the tenth inning. For the third time in four days they ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
Donovan Solano plated Poway native Alex Dickerson with a sacrifice fly to right field, to put the Giants ahead for good 3-2 in the tenth inning. Tucupita Marcano flew out to left with Jurickson Profar on third base to end the game.
San Francisco never trailed after taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Blake Snell gave up a leadoff double to Evan Longoria, before Darin Ruf sent a fly ball to deep center – which bounced off the glove of Jorge Mateo and dribbled over the fence for a two-run homer.
What could have been the second out of the frame, ended up being the first offense allowed by Snell in all of 2021. The first year Padres pitcher didn’t allow a run in 14.1 innings of work during Spring Training, and tossed 4.2 scoreless in his season debut on Friday.
Wednesday’s start was complicated by spotty play in the field. Other than Mateo having a ball bounce out of his glove and over the fence, Manny Machado and Ha-Seong Kim each registered their first errors of the season. Snell got through five innings on 87 pitches, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.
Snell’s afternoon also included his first career hit. He dropped a single in left center in the third inning in his lone at bat of the day. It was the only hit the Padres registered the first four innings of the game.
Kevin Gausman held the Padres in check for the Giants. The veteran righty struck out five, and allowed four hits, one walk and one run in seven frames.
The Padres finally broke through in the fifth inning. Mateo cut his team’s deficit in half, driving in Jurickson Profar with a single to center. Wil Myers belted his second home run of the season in the eighth inning to tie the game and force extra innings.
Following their first day off of the season on Thursday, the team heads to Texas this weekend, followed by a visit to Pittsburgh.