The Padres decided this one with the long ball. San Diego sent four different balls over the fence, and by the time Houston's bullpen finished absorbing the damage, a 7-2 win was in the books at Petco Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SD | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 7 | 12 | 0 |
Fernando Tatis was at the center of it, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. His blast highlighted an afternoon in which the Padres piled up 12 hits and never let Houston back into the game after the second inning.
Houston struck first when Varsho homered to right center, scoring Trammell, and giving the Astros an early 2-0 lead. Merrill answered right back with a solo homer to center, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The Padres seized control for good in the fourth, when Tatis Jr. homered to left, scoring Rengifo and Fermin ahead of him to make it 4-2 — the go-ahead swing that put San Diego in front for the rest of the game. San Diego kept piling on: Sheets homered to right in the sixth, and Hays added a two-run shot to left in the eighth, with Bowen scoring ahead of him, to push the lead to 7-2.
Cristian Javier took the loss for Houston, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits over 5.0 innings with 2 strikeouts. The Astros' bullpen didn't fare much better, with two relievers combining for 3 runs across 3.0 innings as the Padres' attack kept coming. Houston managed just 2 hits all afternoon, both of them going for extra bases in that lone second-inning outburst, and nothing after that.
Randy Vasquez picked up the win for San Diego, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits over 5.0 innings, and the Padres' bullpen closed it out by covering 4.0 innings without allowing a run. San Diego improved to 62-57 and has now won two straight, while Houston fell to 60-59 with its second consecutive loss.