Padres Stat of the Day: May 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Padres this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Padres Stat of the Day: April 2021

May 31: Cubs 7, Padres 2 -- Not-so-unlucky 13
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s sixth-inning home run capped off a terrific couple of weeks for the young superstar. Over his last 13 games, Tatis is now hitting .435 with eight home runs, 25 RBIs and 17 runs. His single RBI on Monday left him just short of Ken Caminiti’s franchise record for most RBIs in a 13-game span (26), set from Aug. 16-30, 1996.

May 30: Astros 7, Padres 4 -- First big league hit? GONE!
Webster Rivas hit a solo home run off Zack Greinke in the fifth inning for his first Major League hit. At 30 years, 295 days old, Rivas is the first player over 30 to homer for his first hit since Seattle's Dae-Ho Lee (33 years, 292 days) did it on April 8, 2016.

May 29: Padres 11, Astros 8 (12) -- Pham stays hot
Tommy Pham had a pair of singles, making this the fourth straight game in which he has posted multiple hits. That matches the longest multihit streak of his career. His last such streak came with the Rays from Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2019. Pham is 8-for-19 during the current streak.

May 28: Padres 10, Astros 3 (11) -- Extras! Extras!
After two 10-inning affairs in Milwaukee, the Padres went to extras for the third time in as many games, marking the first time that's happened to them since Aug. 27-30, 2014. The last time that the Padres played three games into extras in three _days_, however, was May 27-29, 1995.

May 27: Brewers 6, Padres 5 (10) -- Sunny Weathers
Ryan Weathers' big league career is off to quite a start. With his four scoreless innings, Weathers became the first pitcher in Padres history to allow no more than three runs across his first six Major League starts. Three other pitchers have done that in recent years -- Cam Bedrosian for the Angels, Gabriel Moya for the Twins and Ryne Stanek for the Rays. But Weathers can't be considered an opener like those three. Weathers isn't pitching particularly deep -- because of pitch-count limitations -- but he's still viewed as a starter. Remove those three openers from the equation, and the last starter to allow three runs or fewer across his first six starts? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it's Fernando Valenzuela for the Dodgers in 1981. (The difference? Valenzuela pitched six complete games during the peak of Fernando Mania.)

May 26: Padres 2, Brewers 1 (10) -- Paddack on a roll
If it feels like, finally, the 2019 version of Chris Paddack has re-emerged, the numbers back it up. Paddack has allowed just three runs over his past four starts -- the second-best four-start stretch of his career in terms of runs allowed. The only time he has been better was perhaps the best he's ever been. Paddack finished the 2019 season by allowing two runs over his final four starts, as he completed one of the best rookie seasons for a pitcher in Padres history.

May 25: Padres 7, Brewers 1 -- Padres running wild
The Padres ran all over the Brewers with Ha-Seong Kim, Victor Caratini, Tommy Pham, Jurickson Profar, Eric Hosmer and Fernando Tatis Jr. all swiping a bag. It marks the first time in franchise history that San Diego has had six different players steal a base in the same game -- and the first time it's happened in the Majors since the Yankees did it to the Red Sox in 2013.

May 24: Brewers 5, Padres 3 -- Crone locked in
Jake Cronenworth went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch on Monday night, marking the seventh time in the past 13 games that he's reached base at least three times -- by far the most on the Padres in that span. On 12 separate occasions this year, Cronenworth has reached base three times in a game. Only Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Max Muncy, Adam Frazier, Alex Bregman and Aaron Judge have done so more often.

May 23: Padres 9, Mariners 2 -- Padres perfect at home
The Padres swept the Cardinals, then swept the Rockies and then swept the Mariners. In doing so, they recorded the first perfect homestand of at least nine games since the Mets went 10-0 in April 2015. It's just the second such homestand in franchise history -- and the first since 2009.

May 22: Padres 6, Mariners 4 -- Tatis' multihit streak
Fernando Tatis Jr. had a pair of doubles, the fifth straight game he has had multiple hits. It's the longest streak of multihit games in his career. The streak began May 8 at San Francisco with a pair of singles and put on hold for a bit by Tatis' stay on the injured list after a positive COVID-19 test.

May 21: Padres 16, Mariners 1 -- Fifty in a flash
In his 171st career game, Fernando Tatis Jr. launched his 50th career homer -- an opposite-field no-doubter off right-hander Chris Flexen. He became the fastest Padre to reach 50 homers, surpassing Hunter Renfroe, who did so in 230 games. He's also the fastest primary shortstop, surpassing Trevor Story, who needed 238 games to get there. In Major League history, only Pete Alonso (152 games), Rudy York (153), Gary Sánchez (161) and Mark McGwire (161) reached the 50-homer mark faster than Tatis, whose 171 games tied him with Ryan Braun for fifth fastest all-time.

May 19: Padres 3, Rockies 0 -- Off to the races
It took Jake Cronenworth 15.5 seconds to get around the bases and notch the first inside-the-park home run at Petco Park in 11 years. His sixth-inning inside-the-parker was the first since Tony Gwynn Jr.'s on July 17, 2010. It was the first by San Diego at any venue since Everth Cabrera accomplished the feat in Milwaukee on June 8, 2012.

May 18: Padres 2, Rockies 1 (F/10) -- A win's a win
The Padres beat the Rockies when Jorge Mateo scampered home on Daniel Bard's 10th inning wild pitch on Tuesday night, marking the first walk-off wild pitch in Petco Park history. In fact, it was the first time the Padres have won a game on a walk-off wild pitch in 30 years. On April 15, 1991, Shawn Abner scored in the 11th when Reds reliever Ted Power threw a wild pitch with Bip Roberts at the plate.

May 17: Padres 7, Rockies 0 -- Trio carries Padres' offense
When a spate of Padres landed on the injured list for COVID-19-related issues last week, it was clear which players would be asked to pick up the slack: Manny Machado, Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth. Well, that trio combined to reach base seven times on Monday night, continuing a downright remarkable run. Since the first of those IL placements last Tuesday, Machado, Grisham and Cronenworth have combined to hit .329/.436/.519. The Padres are 6-1 in that span.

May 16: Padres 5, Cardinals 3 -- Two souvenir baseballs
Padres starting pitcher Ryan Weathers laced a single up the middle for his first career hit in the bottom of the third inning. In the fourth, newly promoted prospect Ivan Castillo capped a four-run rally by shooting an RBI single past Paul Goldschmidt at first base -- his first career hit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time in Padres history that two teammates have recorded the first hits of their career in consecutive innings. They were the first duo to do so on any team since Texas' Sam Huff and Sherten Apostel did so last September.

May 15: Padres 13, Cardinals 3 -- Plenty of Padres join in
The Padres got contributions from up and down their lineup in hanging a 13-spot on the Cardinals. And the bench chipped in, too. In total, 11 different Padres recorded at least one hit, marking the first time that's happened since June 9, 2017, against the Royals.

May 14: Padres 5, Cardinals 4 -- A dozen walks
The Padres sure made the St. Louis pitching staff work. The 12 walks drawn by San Diego marked a Petco Park record for a nine-inning game -- one behind the franchise's record of 13, set in April at Pittsburgh. The Padres drew a walk in each of the first eight innings of both games.

May 12: Padres 5, Rockies 3 (seven innings) -- Slam Diego is back
The Padres led the Majors with seven grand slams in the 60-game season last year, but they entered Wednesday as one of 13 teams still without a slam in 2021. Victor Caratini changed that with a sixth-inning drive in the first game of the doubleheader at Coors Field. It was the Padres’ 39th plate appearance with the bases loaded this year.

May 11: Padres 8, Rockies 1 -- Manny clears the bases
Manny Machado was a driving force behind the birth of Slam Diego last season, launching a pair of grand slams -- including a walk-off salami during the Padres' record-setting four-game slam streak. He owns a career 1.170 OPS with the bases loaded. This year, Machado may not have hit any grand slams. But he's the only Padre to record an extra-base hit with the bases loaded. He's done so twice -- both bases-clearing triples.

May 9: Padres 11, Giants 1 -- Moonshot after moonshot
Jake Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr. launched a pair of absolute moonshots in the top of the second inning. Cronenworth's blast checked in at 445 feet into McCovey Cove, before Tatis topped him with a 454-foot blast just a few moments later. It marked just the seventh time since Statcast began tracking home run distances that a pair of teammates hit 445-plus home runs in the same inning. It was the first time two Padres had done so.

May 8: Giants 7, Padres 1 -- Manny's hardest-hit ball of 2021
Manny Machado is hitting the ball hard despite his .230 batting average. He's in the top 3% for hard-hit rate, top 5% for average exit velocity and top 6% for maximum exit velocity this season. His first-inning single that deflected off shortstop Brandon Crawford's glove was his hardest-hit ball of 2021, with an exit velocity of 115.3 mph.

May 7: Giants 5, Padres 4 -- Snell walks six
Blake Snell's stuff was electric, as usual, but his control was practically nonexistent. Snell allowed only one hit, but he surrendered four runs -- in large part because of the six walks he allowed. Snell became just the sixth starter in Padres history to record a line with only one hit and at least four runs allowed, and the first since Brett Kennedy on Sept. 7, 2018. Only one starter in franchise history allowed more than four runs on one hit -- Tim Stauffer, who allowed seven runs on one hit during a start in 2011.

May 5: Padres 4, Pirates 2 -- Yu's two-strike wizardry
Don't fall behind against Yu Darvish. A master of nearly a dozen putaway offerings, Darvish hasn't allowed a two-strike hit to an opponent since a Buster Posey single on April 6. That's a span of 75 batters who have gone to two strikes against Darvish without recording a hit.

May 4: Pirates 2, Padres 1 -- Another strong night for the 'pen
The Padres' bullpen has thrived despite facing some serious adversity this season. In large part, that adversity has resulted from early exits by San Diego starters -- though Dinelson Lamet's two-inning outing in this game was planned. The Padres' relief corps owns a National League-best 2.82 ERA, despite the fact the team has used at least five relievers in a game 13 times this season, the most in the Majors.

May 3: Padres 2, Pirates 0 -- Pitching staff starts strong
Padres pitchers have combined to post a 2.81 ERA so far this season -- the second-best team mark through 30 games in franchise history. Only the 2010 team had a better ERA (2.74) through 30 games.

May 2: Giants 7, Padres 1 -- Who you calling short?
Fernando Tatis Jr. has hit some mammoth home runs in his career. He hasn't hit many cheapies. But his first-inning blast off Kevin Gausman just might qualify. Tatis' 338-foot homer into the Petco Porch in the right-field corner was the shortest of his career. The expected batting average on the play was just .240. It is, however, yet another example that Tatis is a prolific slugger, capable of all manner of home runs. His 42-degree launch angle on the homer was the second highest of his career.

May 1: Padres 6, Giants 2 -- A historic start for Tatis
Saturday's game marked the 162nd game of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s brilliant young career. He went 0-for-3, though he walked, stole a base and scored a couple of runs. After a full season's worth of big league games, it's worth pausing to appreciate what Tatis has accomplished. He's the first player in MLB history with 40 homers and 30 steals through his first 162 games. Among shortstops, his 46 home runs are the most in that span as well.