Padres News: Manny Machado Reaches Huge Milestone Without Lifting a Finger

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 17, 2024

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Manny Machado reached a career milestone without doing anything on Tuesday morning.

Because of an official scoring change from the weekend in San Francisco, Machado has 100 runs batted in on the season. He has now reached triple-digit RBIs for the fourth career year and is just seven shy of a new career high.

Thanks to an official scoring change from the weekend in SF, Manny Machado now has 100 RBIs on the season. Fourth-career year w/100 and seven shy of career-high.

— jesse agler (@jesseagler) September 17, 2024

Reaching 100 RBIs capped off an epic week for Machado who reached his 164th career home run for San Diego on Sept. 10. The blast vaulted him past Nate Colbert to set the franchise’s record while powering his team to a critical win in an increasingly tight playoff chase.

“I always feel like his swing is so beautiful and simple,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “One thing that he actually mentioned when he got his 1,000th RBI, when we looked back and started (viewing) some of the footage from his first RBI, just his own comment about pretty much (having) the same swing. He’s just got a natural, fluid, balanced swing.”

“It’s amazing what Manny has been doing for this ballclub since he came over here,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “He is just as Hall of Fame as you can put it, and the guy, he’s an All-Star."

The newly minted RBI came on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning Sunday, which broke a scoreless tie. His RBI double on Monday, believed to be his 99th of the season, will actually go down as his 100th:

Manny Machado is about to hit 100 RBIs on the season.

His 119 OPS+ is an improvement over last year and he’s even shown a little speed as he is about to hit double digit steals 👀.

pic.twitter.com/IWQKZ5ruSn

— The Skippers View (@TheSkippersView) September 17, 2024

Padres Beat Astros, Aim For Strong Finish

The Padres kicked off their final regular-season homestand in front of a packed crowd at Petco Park on Monday night, taking a significant step toward making sure these six games won't be the last in downtown San Diego this year.

With a 3-1 win over the Astros, San Diego moved closer to securing a postseason spot and extended its lead for the National League's top Wild Card, which would guarantee October baseball at Petco Park.

“Yeah, we’re right there,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill, who launched the 24th home run of his remarkable rookie season on Monday night. “But keep the head down and keep going.”

Added Jurickson Profar: “When you’re winning, you have a lot of fun. The way that we are doing it — it’s more fun. Everyone is doing their part.”

They're now closer to the top of the division than the playoff cut line. In recent days, they've emphasized that catching the Dodgers in the NL West remains a priority. However, the main focus is securing a postseason spot, with the earliest potential clinch date being Friday.