Peralta's first Padres homer holds up as game-winner
This browser does not support the video element.
ARLINGTON -- David Peralta had suffered such a long home run drought -- nearly a year, including the entirety of his nascent stint with the Padres this season -- that any round-tripper would have brought him relief.
“A homer’s a homer, but ...” Peralta said after his no-doubter to center field propelled the Padres to a 6-4 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field. “In the situation, tie game, to help the team to win, that was special -- especially to hit the first one for this team.
“I’m looking for many more, and doing more stuff to help the team win.”
After 61 at-bats without a home run since he joined the Padres in late May, Peralta mashed the winner a Statcast-projected 427 feet off Dane Dunning. Peralta’s two-run homer, along with Manny Machado’s two-run dinger in the third inning, paced a Padres offense that collected 13 hits after going listless for a couple of games.
Peralta’s first homer as a Padre was also his first homer, period, since July 8 of last season, when he was with the Dodgers. That’s a long time for any player. Even a garbage time solo shot would’ve put smiles on his and his teammates’ faces -- but this one effectively won the game.
“Big relief,” Peralta said. “I’m working so hard every single day to help the team, to do something, and finally, I did something good for the team.”
Peralta, a 36-year-old veteran with 118 Major League homers, was mired in maybe the most difficult hitting slump of his career until Wednesday. He entered the night with a paltry .544 OPS. He now has eight go-ahead homers in the seventh inning or later in his career.
This browser does not support the video element.
At the locker next to Peralta, newly minted All-Star starter Jurickson Profar explained the team’s reaction.
“We all were very, very happy for him,” Profar said. “He always roots for us, and tonight we had a really good chance to root for him.
“The thing that I appreciate about David is that it was a relief clearly for himself, but I really sincerely believe it was a relief knowing that he was helping this club. ... That says a lot about him.”
This browser does not support the video element.
In the Padres’ previous two games, they scored only one run total and had no homers or walks and only two extra-base hits. But on Wednesday, they jumped on Rangers starter Jon Gray and battled back after falling behind 4-2 in the fourth inning.
Profar went 2-for-4 with a run scored, hours after he learned he was making his first trip to the Midsummer Classic. Jake Cronenworth, Donovan Solano and Jackson Merrill also had two hits each.