Padres make it 5-straight, outlast Astros 4-3

On Friday night, the Padres’ bullpen went seven deep in an excellent outing to stave off a streaking Astros team, ending Houston’s eight-game win-streak in a 4-3 final.

Led by starter Garrett Richards and Javy Guerra, the group struck out 13 batters total while allowing a combined eight hits. Richards and Guerra combined for seven of the team’s Ks in just the first four innings, alone. The duo of Pierce Johnson and Emilio Pagan buckled down to allow zero hits in the final two innings, sealing the deal for San Diego’s fifth-straight victory.

After the Astros got on the board in the opening innings thanks to a run batted in by SS Carlos Correa, Manny Machado responded on the other side with a base hit of his own to make this 1-1 after the first.

In the bottom of the fourth, Jurickson Profar recorded the team’s very first sacrifice fly of the season, popping on up into left field to allow Jake Cronenworth to cross home plate. Just one inning later, Machado went and recorded his second base hit to score Trent Grisham from second. On the very next at-bat, Jake Cronenworth doubled into deep right field and that allowed Machado to barely scrap by at home to push things to 4-1.

Houston responded with a score apiece in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to put the pressure on the Padres late but they couldn’t amass anything else past that point. The Astros fell to 15-11 and are now three games behind the Oakland A’s for second place in the AL West.

The Padres are now 16-12 and have a two-game lead over the Rockies for second place in the NL West. The Dodgers notched their seventh win in their last eight and officially became the first team to 20 wins in 2020.

The Padres return to Petco Park for their second-of-three against the Astros. Opening pitch is scheduled for 6:10pm. Zach Davies (3-2) and right-hander Brandon Bielak (3-0) will be on the mound for their teams to start this one.