Inside The Padres

Manny Machado Reflects On Padres Current Hot Streak at Plate

Maren Angus-Coombs

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
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San Diego star slugger Manny Machado is having fun. He is been in the middle of the onslaught in Boston helping the Padres score 20 runs in two games with one game to play on Sunday.

The Padres have won nine of their last 10 and currently occupy the second Wild Card spot. They have created a bit of separation jumping ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals by 1.5 games.

“Last week or so, we’ve turned it up a notch,” Machado said. “It’s been fun to be a part of.”

Machado and the Padres are playing their best baseball of the first half with several stars on the injured list. They’re still without second baseman Xander Bogaerts and right-handers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, and right-fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. joined them on the injured list with a stress reaction in the femur bone in his right leg.

The players who have been tapped to step in for their injured teammates have done precisely that and the team is getting production from some unlikely sources. However, Machado has been in the middle. He is batting .385 over the past two weeks, including two home runs on Saturday.

“The message has been clear since Spring Training,” Machado said. “We’ve got to back each other up. We’ve got to pick up each other’s slack. When one guy goes down, the next guy has to step up.”

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Maren Angus-Coombs

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.

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