Padres Score: Nelson Cruz Dominates, Seth Lugo Shines in San Diego's Win

A triumph for San Diego in all areas!

Talk about everything coming together at once for the Friars. Everybody brought their A-game in the team's fourth game against the Braves on Sunday and won 10-1 in dominant fashion.

Nelson Cruz, what an outing! At 42-years-old, he was able to cash in six RBI's in just six innings. Put that along with Seth Lugo bringing forth another great performance at the pitching mound with only one run allowed and that is a recipe for success.

The game was pretty calm up until the third inning where Ha-Seong Kim got the ball rolling with a double to centerfield that saw Jake Cronenworth record the first run of the day. 

Fast-forward one inning and Cruz started his masterclass showcase with a home run that only brought him in but also Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado.

Ha-Seong Kim hits a double to give the Padres a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning!#MLBxESPN #SundayNightBaseball #ESPN pic.twitter.com/S0RB3ik0zb

— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) April 9, 2023

BIG FLY NELSON CRUZ 🚀

📺: Padres vs. Braves on ESPN pic.twitter.com/CqRzx0VMbJ

— ESPN (@espn) April 9, 2023

The very next inning, Trent Grisham saw a pitch he fell in love with and took Dylan Dodd deep once again.

Just like that, we had ourselves a 5-0 lead.

Trent Grisham crushes his third of the year to make it 5-0 Padres! pic.twitter.com/hRQt3GJdtH

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 10, 2023

Juan Soto ran to home plate thanks to another RBI from Cruz in that same inning and then Kim returned to bat with even more firepower this time.

He hit his second home run of the season that saw Cruz score with him.

Nelson Cruz with another hit to give the Padres a 6-run lead in the 5th! pic.twitter.com/R2C4xUvoTK

— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) April 10, 2023

Ha-Seong Kim pulled out the golf swing for this blast!

(MLB x @casamigos) pic.twitter.com/iOyUQeMMKD

— MLB (@MLB) April 10, 2023

Former Padres beat writer Bill Center provided some excellent insight as to just how successful the Friars were at the plate at this point in the game.

In five innings, the #Padres already have a season-high seven extra-base hits -- homers by Cruz, Grisham and Kim; doubles by Cronenworth, Kim, Soto and Cruz.

— Bill Center (@billcenter) April 10, 2023

"In five innings, the

#Padres

already have a season-high seven extra-base hits -- homers by Cruz, Grisham and Kim; doubles by Cronenworth, Kim, Soto and Cruz."

(Via Bill Center)

Orlando Arcia then made sure that the Braves did not completely scoreless as he gave them their first run of the game thanks to an RBI from Ronald Acuna Jr.

The superstar of the day Nelson Cruz decided he had one more in him in the sixth inning and connected on another powerful single to centerfield that brought in Xander Bogaerts and Machado. This now put the Padres up 10-1.

6 RBI night for Nelson Cruz--and it's the 6th inning pic.twitter.com/GKT5ciPoN9

— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) April 10, 2023

Arcia was able to sneak in another run for Atlanta thanks to a single from Matt Olson. 

Matt Olson - Single vs Domingo Tapia#Padres vs #Braves

EV: 78.9 (MPH)
LA: 24 (Deg.)
Dist: 240 (ft.)
xBA: .620

97.1 (MPH) Sinker (SI) - 3-2 Count

— Braves In Play (@BravesInPlay) April 10, 2023

The Padres are back at it Monday at 4:10 pm PT against the New York Mets as they look to win another series.