Padres Make Franchise History in Wild Comeback Win Over Royals

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jun 2, 2024

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres had an eighth inning for the record books on Friday in Kansas City against the Royals. They recorded a franchise-record 11 hits en route to nine runs and erupted for an 11-8 victory.

Hitting is contagious and Padres manager Mike Shildt saw the perfect display of passing the bat to keep the rally going.

The Padres have an 11-hit inning for the first time in franchise history. Wow.

— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) June 1, 2024

“That was pretty special," Shildt said. “Just professional at-bats throughout. Just a bunch of guys staying through their swing and having the approach to match it.”

The enormous outburst wasn't too surprising. San Diego entered the game with a Major League-best .288 batting average on the road.

Once Jake Cronenworth gave the Padres a 4-3 lead, it was as if the offense couldn't be stopped. Luis Arraez had his fourth four-hit game going 4-for-5 becoming the first player with at least four games with four-plus hits in his first 24 games with a franchise since 1900.

Luis Arraez’s three games with 4+ hits with the Padres are tied for the most in a player’s first 17 games with a franchise since 1900, with:

1998 Mike Lansing COL
1997 Kenny Lofton ATL
1991 Todd Benzinger KC
1942 Nanny Fernandez BSN
1941 Billy Herman BRO
1934 Carl Reynolds BOS… https://t.co/1nWu9uWlbk

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 23, 2024

Cronenworth drove in three runs and joined Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, Donovan Solano, and Jackson Merrill with multi-hit games.

“It seems like each guy was just feeding off the last guy,” Cronenworth said. “We’ve had some explosive games like that, though not that many hits in a row. This team is certainly capable of stringing big innings together.”