The San Diego Padres are struggling to find runs these days so they’ll take them any way they can get them. On Monday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco just one run was enough to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Giants.
The Padres held off Giants ace Logan Webb who was pitching brilliantly thanks to a strong combined effort from their own pitchers. The only run came in the 10th inning when a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt followed by a sacrifice fly brought home Jake Cronenworth.
“It was a great baseball game,” said Jose Iglesias who drove in the winning run and made a key defensive play at third base to stop the Giants from tying it up. “Those are the types of games that build teams. It was a great win for us especially against a pitcher like Webb.”
Padres right-hander Stephen Kolek matched Webb pitch for pitch through five and two-thirds innings keeping the Giants scoreless. The bullpen then took over with closer Robert Suarez pitching two strong innings his longest outing since the 2022 playoffs.
This marked the Padres’ first extra-innings shutout since May 2015. The victory also came at a perfect time kicking off a crucial four-game series against a divisional rival followed by 17 games against other tough National League teams.
“We’ve faced some strong teams,” said Tyler Wade. “This division is super competitive. Webb’s a great pitcher with a lot of good stuff. To grind out one run and get the win shows how important every run is.”
While Padres manager Mike Shildt doesn’t usually call for a sacrifice bunt to start extra innings the situation was ideal. Wade one of the team’s best bunters was up first followed by Iglesias a top contact hitter.
Wade laid down a textbook bunt on the first pitch of the 10th inning moving the runner into scoring position. Iglesias then capitalised on a mistake from Giants pitcher Ryan Walker who left a slider too high. Iglesias sent it deep to left field scoring Cronenworth and giving the Padres the lead.
“I was just looking for something up,” Iglesias said. “Facing a tough pitcher I got a good swing on it.”
The Giants threatened late but Iglesias made a stunning diving catch to stop a potential tying hit. Suarez then closed out the game with confidence proving his value to the team.
“It was a complete team effort,” Shildt said. “Jose’s a valuable player for us.”
Kolek who admired Webb’s sinkerball said pitching against such a top pitcher was exciting and a great learning experience.
“It was fun to face a true superstar,” Kolek said. “The team played great defence and pulled together. It was a fantastic win.”
Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
