Luke Voit went his first 24 games of the season hitting just two home runs, and both of them in one game. But he could not have come up in a bigger situation when the San Diego Padres got two runners on for the 31-year-old slugger. Voit’s homer eliminated the first three-run deficit of the home season for the Padres and put them in a position to win the game.
The Padres needed that performance from their designated hitter after going the previous 26 innings without an extra-base hit from the rest of the lineup, dating back to Monday’s seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Padres won their 29th game of the season with their 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Sean Manaea gave up a first-inning home run and a two-run double in the fourth inning. With the team down 3-0 through five innings, it seemed the Padres were destined for their first three-game losing streak of 2022. But then, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Luke Voit came up in the biggest at-bat of his Padres tenure, tying the ballgame with one swing of the bat that traveled 385 feet to the left field wall.
Manaea departed in a tie game in the eighth inning. The 30-year-old southpaw completed seven innings for the third time this season, tying Joe Musgrove for the team lead. He allowed four hits and walked three while striking out five Pirates’ hitters.
Nabil Crismatt worked a perfect eighth inning in relief. He induced a flyout, groundout and struck out former Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano in the highest-leverage situation he has faced all season. In his third major league season, and second as a Padre, he lowered his ERA to 1.19.
In the bottom of the eighth, Manny Machado worked an 0-2 count into a six-pitch walk for Eric Hosmer, who moved him to third base with a base hit to center field. Wil Myers followed with a broken-bat single that flew over the head of the middle infielders and into center field to give the Padres their first lead of the night.
MLB saves-leader Taylor Rogers worked an 11-pitch ninth inning, setting the side in order to earn his 17th save of the season, putting himself ahead of Milwaukee’s Josh Hader for the league lead. Rogers owns a 0.44 ERA while opponents are hitting .132 against him.
The Padres will go for the series win when Joe Musgrove (5-0, 1.90 ERA) takes the hill against the Pirates’ JT Brubaker (0-4, 4.64 ERA). San Diego is 3-1 this season over Pittsburgh.