Padres' bats back with 19-hit attack

KANSAS CITY -- For one game, at least, the Padres’ offense was back.

The hits and runs flowed freely on Friday night as San Diego rolled to a 13-5 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. It was a welcome sight for manager Bob Melvin, who had seen his club score three runs or fewer in six straight games before arriving in Kansas City.

Even with outfielder Juan Soto missing his third straight game because of left mid-back tightness, the Padres managed to put up nine hits and six runs in the opening three innings against Royals starter Kris Bubic.

Ha-Seong Kim went 3-for-6 with a homer and a career-best five RBIs and former Kansas City Draft pick Wil Myers went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs to lead a 19-hit attack. Center fielder José Azocar added a career-high four hits and San Diego went 8-for-13 with runners in scoring position after a nine-game stretch in which the team hit a Major League low .106 in the RISP category.

Yes, the Padres were due. And the Royals paid for it. Position player Hunter Dozier pitched the ninth as Kansas City tried to limit the damage to its bullpen.

With Soto going through a full batting practice regimen prior to the game, it was a good day for the Padres on multiple fronts. Soto is expected back in the lineup shortly and the hope is he’ll join right in with the rejuvenated attack that San Diego displayed in the road trip opener.

“We certainly have the ability to do it,” Melvin said.

The Padres had a 10-run outburst on Aug. 17 against Miami, but they weren’t able to follow that up with a sustained attack. The six-game stretch of three runs or fewer came right after that double-digit performance against the Marlins.

“That’s the way the game goes,” Myers said. “You struggle for a while and then you have a breakout game. The offense looked good. We just have to keep it rolling. Everything is right in front of us.

“We have to go out there and get it done. We can’t have another stretch where we struggle. We have to keep having games where we hit with runners in scoring position like we did tonight.”

The Padres jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with Joe Musgrove on the mound, but the Royals wouldn’t roll over. They knocked out Musgrove in the fourth and drew within 6-5, before Robert Suarez came on to shut down the rally.

Suarez wound up getting four huge outs and San Diego still had another tack-on offensive surge to throw at the Royals.

The Padres’ offense was able to pick up Musgrove, just as Musgrove has picked up the offense numerous times this year.

“You could tell his best command wasn’t there,” Melvin said. “Just couldn’t finish guys off.”

The Padres got a big break in the sixth when a bad-hop single by Azocar past shortstop Nicky Lopez set up a run that made it 7-5. When the ball left Azocar’s bat, it looked like it would result in an inning-ending double play.

San Diego then broke it open for good with a four-run rally in the seventh.

“I felt really confident the first couple of innings, but wasn’t able to maintain that,” Musgrove said. “Luckily, the guys were swinging the bats tonight.”