Pitching, power leads to series win for Padres over Astros

It appeared as though Mason Miller was going to get an opportunity for his 30th save of the season when the San Diego Padres entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 5-2 lead over the visiting Houston Astros. That opportunity never came thanks to a pinch-hit two-run home run by Austin Hays that put the Padres on top of the Astros by the final score of 7-2 in a series win at Petco Park on Sunday.

Hays was signed by San Diego and added to the roster prior to the game. Gage Workman was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. The veteran right-handed hitter gives the Padres a platoon outfielder and bench option who has had success throughout his career against left-handed pitching, an area of weakness for the San Diego offense. The Friar Faithful got to see that reality come to life when Hays hit a 361-foot home run off Houston left-handed reliever Bryan King in his first at-bat with the club.

The home run by Hays was the fourth home run of the day for the Padres. Jackson Merrill hit the first home run in the bottom of the second, which cut the San Diego deficit to 2-1. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the second home run in the bottom of the fourth and gave the Padres the lead with a three-run blast to left field to give them a 4-2 lead. Gavin Sheets hit the third home run of the game for San Diego in the bottom of the sixth inning, which was his first longball since June 30th to make the score, 5-2.

Randy Vasquez started on the mound for the Padres and was impressive. He made a mistake in the top of the second when he left a sweeper up and out over the plate to Daulton Varsho. The lefty blasted the ball to right-center field with Taylor Trammell on second base and gave the Astros a 2-0 lead. Vasquez settled in after the home run and completed five innings allowing just the two runs on two hits with no walks and a strikeout. The right-hander retired the next 10 batters after the home run and then turned the game over to the bullpen after just 62 pitches.

Kyle Hart came on in the top of the sixth and retired all three batters he faced before Bradgley Rodriguez come on in the top of the seventh. The rookie reliever pitched two innings and retired all six batters he faced. Jeremiah Estrada came on for the top of the ninth once Miller was no longer in line for a save and like Hart and Rodriguez before him, retired all three batters he faced to complete the win. Vasquez and the San Diego bullpen put down 22 Houston batters in a row to end the game.

The Padres remain one game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies for one of the final two Wild Card spots and will look to continue winning to remain in the hunt when the Milwaukee Brewers come to Petco for a three-game series starting today at 6:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ballrecapped the week that was for the Padres, including the roster additions that came at the MLB Trade Deadline.

• Joe Musgrove made his second rehab start and appears to be gaining momentum toward a return.

Baseball News:

• Jacob Misiorowski reached 200 career strikeouts and helped the Milwaukee Brewer beat the Minnesota Twins.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks won two of three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers including a 4-2 win on Sunday.

• The Atlanta Braves avoided a sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees with a win on Sunday.

• The Philadelphia Phillies got a 12-inning walk-off win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Pete Alonso led the Baltimore Orioles to a win over the Texas Rangers.

• The Chicago Cubs dominated the Kansas City Royals.

• The Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.