Stat of the Day: July 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.
July 31: Rockies 5, Padres 3: Cronenworth channels Tatis
Filling in at shortstop in Fernando Tatis Jr.'s absence, Jake Cronenworth channeled his double-play partner on Saturday night. Cronenworth launched a two-run homer to the right-field seats, then flipped his bat a la Tatis. It was the 34th home run this season by a Padres shortstop -- 10 more than the next closest team, the Cubs, who have 24.
July 30: Rockies 9, Padres 4 -- Manny doubles up on Rox
Manny Machado launched a pair of no-doubt two-run home runs to account for all of the Padres' runs. It was Machado's seventh multihomer game at Petco Park, moving him past Hunter Renfroe for the most in the ballpark's history.
July 29: Padres 3, Rockies 0 -- Double-digit K's a theme for Joe
Joe Musgrove moved into some pretty exclusive company with his 11 strikeouts against the Rockies -- the fifth time this season that he reached double figures in strikeouts. Musgrove is only the fifth Padre in history to record five games with at least 10 K's in a single season, joining Andy Benes, Clay Kirby, Kevin Brown and Jake Peavy (who did so on three separate occasions). With two months left in the regular season, perhaps the franchise record of nine double-digit strikeout games -- set by Brown in 1998 and Peavy in '07 -- is within reach.
July 28: Athletics 10, Padres 4 -- Night and day for Snell
Much has been made about Blake Snell's home-road splits, and they're certainly pronounced. Even with Wednesday's poor outing, he owns a 2.81 ERA at Petco Park, compared with an 8.02 mark on the road. But his day-night splits are even more confounding. After he allowed seven runs over four innings against Oakland, Snell's ERA in seven day games this year stands at 9.21, compared with a 3.54 mark in 12 starts at night.
July 27: Padres 7, Athletics 4 -- Tatis channels Bonds
Fernando Tatis Jr. launched the 70th home run of his career against Oakland, to go along with 50 career steals. Tatis is the only player since 1901 with at least 70 homers and 50 steals in his first 227 career games -- and he's one of only two players to do so in any span of 227 games. The other? Barry Bonds (who had several such overlapping stretches from 1993-96).
July 25: Marlins 9, Padres 3 -- Machado homers vs. Miami for feat
The 418-foot home run Machado smacked in the fourth inning was his first career homer against the Marlins. The Padres slugger has now hit a home run off of every MLB club. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he joins Miguel Cabrera, Josh Donaldson, Dexter Fowler, J.D. Martinez, Albert Pujols and Justin Upton as the only active players to reach the feat.
July 24: Marlins 3, Padres 2 -- Weathers calls for thunder
Starting pitcher Ryan Weathers smacked a 421-foot home run in the top of the third inning. The rookie’s first career homer is the longest by a Padres pitcher tracked by Statcast (since 2015), surpassing a 418-ft dinger by Clayton Richard on April 9, 2018, at Coors Field. It is also the third-longest home run this season by a starting pitcher -- behind Shohei Othani’s 451-foot blast (only counting home runs when he is pitching in a game) on April 4 and Huascar Ynoa's 427-foot dinger on May 4.
July 23: Padres 5, Marlins 2 -- Melancon slams the door
Mark Melancon recorded his 30th save of the season, getting Marlins pinch-hitter Chad Wallach looking to end the game. It marks the fourth time in his career the reliever notched 30-plus saves in a season. The last time he reached the feat was in 2016 when he recorded 30 saves with the Pirates before being traded to the Nationals and getting 17 more to finish with 47.
July 22: Padres 3, Marlins 2 -- Tatis quickest in history to 50-50
Fernando Tatis Jr. picked up the 50th stolen base of his career against the Marlins at loanDepot park, becoming the fastest player in AL/NL history, based on games, to reach 50 home runs and 50 steals in his career. A first-time All-Star this year, Tatis has hit 29 of his 68 career homers this season, and his steal on Thursday was his 23rd of the year.
July 21: Padres 3, Braves 2 (Game 1); Game 2 suspended in 5th (Padres 5, Braves 4) -- Tatis sets SS HR club record
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s 29th home run of the season -- a two-run blast in the fifth inning of Game 1 -- was also his 28th as a shortstop. (He'd hit one as a designated hitter.) Those 28 home runs are the most by a shortstop in a single season in Padres history, pushing Tatis past Khalil Greene, who hit 27 in 2007.
July 20: Braves 2, Padres 1 -- Yu carrying the load
This season, the Padres have had 26 games in which their starting pitcher has worked into the sixth inning and finished allowing two runs or fewer. Precisely half of those outings belong to Yu Darvish, who pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs in his return to the mound on Tuesday night after a short IL stint.
July 18: Nationals 8, Padres 7 -- Crooked numbers all series
Eric Hosmer's three-run home run accounted for the Padres' 35th, 36th and 37th runs of their weekend series against the Nationals, setting a franchise record for runs in a three-game set. After scoring 24 runs in the opener, the Padres' 41 total runs this series surpassed the 35 they scored Aug. 5-7, 2011, in Pittsburgh.
July 16: Padres 24, Nationals 8 -- Runs record and then some
Individually and collectively, the Padres made some franchise history on Friday night. Jake Cronenworth's cycle was the third ever by a Padres hitter, and the 24 runs scored were the most ever for the club. Combine those two, and the Padres had themselves a night that's never happened before. Their 24 runs were the most in Major League history for a team that saw one of its players hit for the cycle, surpassing Harry Craft's Reds, who scored 23 runs during his cycle on June 8, 1940.
July 11: Rockies 3, Padres 1 -- 53 wins at the break
Perhaps it's overshadowed slightly by the fact the Padres enter the All-Star break in third place in the National League West. But they had quite a first half, generally speaking. Their 53 victories are the second most in franchise history before the break, trailing only the 1998 club, which was 57-31 at the break.
July 10: Rockies 3, Padres 0 -- Hey now, lots of All-Stars
Manny Machado was named to the National League All-Star team as a replacement on Saturday night, capping an excellent first half for the Padres' star third baseman. With Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, Mark Melancon and Yu Darvish all headed to Denver, that gives the Padres five All-Stars for the first time since 1998. That team saw Tony Gwynn, Kevin Brown, Trevor Hoffman, Greg Vaughn and Andy Ashby earn the honor. It's also the last Padres team to reach a World Series.
July 9: Padres 4, Rockies 2 -- No. 27 for Melancon
With a 1-2-3 ninth inning, Mark Melancon picked up his Major League-leading 27th save, breaking a tie with Heath Bell in 2011 for the second most by a Padres reliever before the All-Star break. Only Kirby Yates, who had 30 saves in 2019, had more. Like Bell and Yates before him, Melancon is also headed to the All-Star Game.
July 8: Padres 9, Nationals 8 -- Tatis’ record collection
By stealing his 20th base, Fernando Tatis Jr. became the first Padres player to have a 20/20 season before the All-Star break. It also made him the youngest player in MLB to history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases before the All-Star break (22 years, 186 days). Alex Rodriguez went 20/20 before the 1998 All-Star break at 22 years, 343 days old. Tatis also made history with his 28th homer, which set the record for most homers by a shortstop before the All-Star break, previously held by Rodriguez with 27 in 1998 and 2002.
July 7: Nationals 15, Padres 5 -- Too many and not enough
Padres pitchers combined to allow 15 runs and struck out just three hitters. That marked the first time since May 8, 2005, that Padres pitchers combined to give up 15 or more runs and struck out three or fewer batters in a game. The 2005 game also was a 15-5 loss, but to the Cardinals.
July 6: Padres 7, Nationals 4 -- Tatis fires a bullet to home
Fernando Tatis Jr. has some ridiculous tools, and that includes his outstanding arm. With one out in the second inning, Yan Gomes hit what looked destined to be an RBI double into the left-field corner. But Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar delivered a strike to Tatis, whose relay throw was perfect -- and it was an absolute missile. At 95.8 mph, Tatis' relay throw was the hardest throw by an infielder this season on a play that resulted in an out.
July 5: Nationals 7, Padres 5 -- Nando tops himself with homer
Fernando Tatis Jr. hits the ball hard. But he'd never hit the ball this hard. Facing Washington's Jon Lester in the fourth inning, Tatis sent a 116 mph missile off the Western Metal Supply Co. building. It was the hardest-hit ball of Tatis' career, checking in one-tenth of a mile per hour harder than his home run off Clayton Kershaw in April.
July 4: Padres 11, Phillies 1 -- Don't pitch to Manny
Manny Machado homered in each of his first two at-bats on Sunday afternoon, before earning a pair of intentional walks in his next two trips to the plate. (He was unintentionally walked in the ninth, though it was clear the Phillies wanted no part of him.) Machado became just the third player in Padres history to record two homers and two intentional walks in the same game -- joining Brian Giles (Aug. 12, 2007) and Phil Plantier (July 30, 1993).
July 3: Phillies 4, Padres 2 -- Water falling from the sky?
On their current road trip through Cincinnati and Philadelphia, the Padres have endured six rain delays, totaling six hours and 39 minutes. Safe to say the Friars aren't all that accustomed to such delays. In 18 seasons since Petco Park opened in 2004, the downtown San Diego ballpark has experienced a total of six rain delays (not including postponements).
July 2: Phillies 4, Padres 3 (10 innings) -- Different city, same outcome
San Diego endured its second walk-off loss in as many nights. The Padres hadn't lost games on consecutive days via walk-off since dropping two straight to the Dodgers on May 1-2, 2009. They had never been walked off on consecutive days in different cities.
July 1: Reds 5, Padres 4 -- Pham makes the most of AB
Tommy Pham has hit safely in 15 of his past 18 games, batting .406 (26-for-64) with six doubles and five home runs. Pham entered the series finale as a pinch-hitter and had a two-run single.