Machado joins Colbert atop Padres' HR charts
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SAN DIEGO -- Petco Park rocked for nine innings Friday night. The Padres are doing their part to make sure it keeps rocking into October.
Manny Machado homered twice -- his 162nd and 163rd as a Padre -- moving him into a tie with Nate Colbert for the franchise home-run record. Michael King pitched six innings of one-run ball on a night the San Diego bullpen absolutely had to have it. That bullpen -- without its three highest-leverage arms -- nailed down the final three frames with ease.
And the Padres opened their weekend series against the Giants with a 5-1 victory -- an emphatic response after a brutal loss on Thursday night.
In the process, San Diego extended its lead for the top National League Wild Card spot to 1 1/2 games over the Diamondbacks, who lost in Houston. That top Wild Card spot also comes with home-field advantage in a best-of-three Wild Card Series.
The only damper on the night came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when rookie phenom Jackson Merrill fouled a ball off his left knee. Merrill remained in the game, but he was replaced in center field in the eighth by utility man Tyler Wade. The team said Merrill has a left patella contusion and X-rays were negative.
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