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By Liz Alper
Photo: have you ever seen a pitcher hit a grand slam? Daniel Camarena did tonight. Via @padres on Twitter
July 8, 2021 (San Diego) - Last night was….well, it was a thing. But tonight, the Padres tried to split the series with the Nationals. Max Scherzer started for Washington against Yu Darvish.
That matchup ended up being not as good as we thought because the Nationals picked up where they left off last night with ex-Padre Trea Turner’s solo homer, his 16th of the year, in the first. Yan Gomes singled on a loop to center to score two and the Nats led 3-0 after one.
Josh Bell added some more in the third with a single to deep center to score Turner. Starlin Castro hit a sac fly to center that scored Juan Soto. Josh Harrison singled to center to score Bell and the Nats added three more runs to lead 6-0 after three.
The onslaught continued in the fourth. Turner hit a two-run homer to center and the Nats led 8-0.
Fernando Tatis Jr. finally got the Padres on the board in the home half of the fourth with a solo homer to left. The Padres loaded the bases and Wil Myers walked to score Manny Machado. And all of a sudden, the new kid from Bonita made his presence known. Daniel Camarena brought Slam Diego back with a grand slam to right off of one of the best pitchers in the game for his first homer of the season and Scherzer was done for the night. And he’s a pitcher! Kyle Finnegan replaced Scherzer and got Tatis Jr. to pop up and it looked like it would be the end of the inning, but the ball dropped in front of Bell, allowing Tatis Jr. to single and Tommy Pham to score. The Nationals were hanging on by an 8-7 thread after four.
The tying run finally came in the sixth with Pham’s two-out double to center that scored Myers and we were tied at eight after six. A whole new ballgame.
Just before it looked like we were going to extras, Trent Grisham saved the day in the ninth with a single lined to right that scored Pham to give the Padres the walkoff win that allowed them to, by the skin of their necks, split the series with the Nationals with a 9-8 win. They move to 52-38.
UP NEXT
The Padres finally leave the NL East behind and welcome the Rockies back before the All-Star break. Game one tomorrow night is at 7:10 p.m. Kyle Freeland will start for Colorado against a pitcher to be named.
TRANSACTIONS
- Nabil Crismatt optioned to El Paso
- James Norwood and Daniel Camarena recalled from El Paso
- Nick Ramirez placed on 10-day IL
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