Padres All-Star Thwarts Perfect Game With His Bat, Home Run With His Glove

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 12, 2024

Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Not uuch went right for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners.

The Padres didn't play clean baseball. They gave away runs and did not have a baserunner until the seventh inning in a 5-2 loss to the Mariners.

However, the baserunner in the seventh was a huge one.

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s home run lined down the left field line with one out in the seventh broke up Bryan Woo’s perfect-game bid.

That ball got out in a hurry 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/UUT7Caqkql

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2024

“You want to break that,” Tatis said. “You don’t want to go down on the opposite side of a perfect game or a no-hitter.”

Prior to Tatis’ home run, the hardest-hit ball by the Padres was Manny Machado’s 113.4-mph line drive to start the fifth inning. Left fielder Randy Arozarena managed to catch it with a stumbling dive after covering 28 feet to his right.

With San Diego trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Tatis came through again when Arozarena sent a fly ball to right field that Tatis ran and leaped to catch above the wall. If he didn't make the catch, the Mariners would have extended their lead.

Platinum Glove at work ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/afoScPNFBo

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2024

The game might have remained scoreless if not for a messy third inning, where a walk and hit batter by Michael King, combined with an error by Jake Cronenworth, allowed the Mariners to jump out to a 3-0 lead and cut King's outing short.

By the time Tatis homered, the Mariners were already ahead 5-0, with two more runs coming in the sixth after Adrián Morejón issued walks to the first two batters.

“We had three walks and a hit batter, all score,” manager Mike Shildt said. “And, of course, we don’t help ourselves with the defense, but very, very uncharacteristic of us.”

The bigger blow for the Padres was slipping into the second National League wild-card spot, falling half a game behind the Diamondbacks and 1.5 games ahead of the Mets, who both won on Wednesday. The Braves, who also lost, are just a game behind the Mets and are the first team outside the playoff picture.

All four teams competing for the NL's final three playoff spots are off on Thursday. After that, the Padres will have 15 games remaining, while the other contenders will each have 16.

King (12-9, 3.06) earned the decision in 12 of his last 13 starts, going 7-5 during that stretch with the Padres posting an 8-5 record. His 2.55 ERA is currently the fourth-best in the majors.