SD needs spark? Who else but Tatis, Manny?
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SAN DIEGO -- Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado brought their otherworldly power -- and their otherworldly flair and gravity-challenging bat flips -- to the postseason stage.
With the Padres in dire need of a spark in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday evening, they turned to -- who else? -- their two NL MVP Award candidates.
Trailing the Cardinals by four runs in the sixth inning, Tatis launched his first postseason home run, a laser three-run shot to left field on a hanging slider from Giovanny Gallegos.
| Game | Date | Matchup | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Sept. 30 | STL 7, SD 4 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 1 | SD 11, STL 9 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 2 | SD 4, STL 0 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: Seven pitches later, Machado followed with a no-doubter of his own, tying the game and sending the Padres’ dugout spilling over the railing as he flipped his bat and pounded his chest before breaking into his home run trot. The homers gave a jolt to the Padres' offense, which ended the game with five homers and an 11-9 victory to even the series.
“I believe in momentum,” Tatis said. “I believe in teammates trusting each other. Definitely after today’s game, we’re back -- Slam Diego.”
Tatis and Machado are the first pair of Padres to go back-to-back since Tony Gwynn and Greg Vaughn in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series at Yankee Stadium. Making that bit of Padres history wasn't enough for Tatis. He had more to come.
With the Padres energized by their superstars’ theatrics, Wil Myers homered off Daniel Ponce de Leon down the left-field line to lead off the bottom of the seventh, giving the Padres their first lead in the series, 7-6.
“We’ve hit all year,” Myers said. “We’ve just got to wait for that time.”
Tatis got back to work -- and back to his showmanship -- with his second homer of the game two outs after Myers' shot. With the count full against Ponce de Leon, Tatis rocketed a two-run shot to right field to extend the Padres' lead to 9-6, punctuating the moment with an epic bat flip.
The 21-year-old Tatis is by far the youngest Padre to homer in the postseason, surpassing Kevin McReynolds, who did it at 24 in the 1984 NL Championship Series. Tatis also is the third-youngest player in postseason history with a multihomer game, at 21 years 273 days. Andruw Jones (19 years, 180 days in 1996 World Series Game 1) and Carlos Correa (21 years, 20 days in 2015 American League Division Series Game 4) were younger.
And when Myers hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, he and Tatis became just the second pair of teammates to hit multiple homers in the same postseason game. The other pair? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.