SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ten games in front of mostly capacity crowds at Petco Park did wonders for the San Diego Padres.
Other than a dreadful showing against Arizona on Saturday night, the Padres gave their fans plenty to cheer about and in turn fed off that energy.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a go-ahead double during San Diego's three-run rally in the seventh inning, and the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 Sunday to take two of three against the team with baseball’s worst record.
Trent Grisham hit three doubles and the Padres broke loose late to finish a 9-1 homestand that included a four-game sweep of Cincinnati and a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Dodgers.
The homestand coincided with the Padres being allowed to open Petco Park to full capacity under the state's reopening plan.
“It just felt like every play, no matter who was on the mound or who was at the plate, or the situation, it just felt like they were behind you 100%," Jake Cronenworth said.
Arizona routed San Diego 10-1 on Saturday to snap its record 24-game road losing streak. The Diamondbacks were looking to win consecutive games for the first time since May 10-11 and take their first series win since the season’s first month.
But trailing 4-2, the Padres opened the seventh with five straight hits against Matt Peacock (2-6). Pinch-hitter Jurickson Profar and Tommy Pham opened with singles. Grisham’s third hit of the game was an RBI double, followed by Cronenworth’s tying RBI single.
Tatis bounced a double into the left-field corner to put the Padres ahead.
Tatis had his first three-homer game in an 11-5 win in the series opener Friday night.
The Padres came into this homestand having lost 13 of 17 games, including going 1-5 on a road trip capped by losing three straight at lowly Colorado.
“We took care of business at home, now we need to play a little bit better baseball on the road," manager Jayce Tingler said. “I like what we've done this homestand. I like still the way we're pitching and playing defense but we're getting a little more quality at-bats up and down the lineup, and that's when ultimately we're just a more dangerous team.”
Cronenworth said the Padres were more aggressive this homestand. During the winning rally, Pham, Grisham and Tatis had first-pitch hits.
“I think it's that when guys have gotten their pitches to hit, we've hit them," Cronenworth said. “Those balls are finally starting to fall. They weren't right at guys. That's a good thing."
Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his MLB-leading 24th save in 27 chances.
An error by Tatis at shortstop contributed to a three-run rally in the top of the seventh that gave Arizona a 4-2 lead against Tim Hill (5-3). Hill loaded the bases with no outs before pinch-hitter Eduardo Escobar hit an RBI grounder. Tatis tried for a force at second but threw it away and the go-ahead run scored. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly.
The Padres took a 2-0 lead against Zac Gallen just three batters into the bottom of the first. Pham homered to straightaway center on Gallen's third pitch before Grisham doubled and scored on Cronenworth's single.
San Diego ace Yu Darvish permitted one run and six hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking one. Gallen allowed six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
NICE PLAY
After the Diamondbacks scored with one out in the fourth, Tatis saved another run from scoring. With David Peralta on second base, Christian Walker hit a smash that caromed off third baseman Kim Ha-seong's glove and Tatis leaped to barehand the ball. He wasn't able to throw out Walker, but Peralta had to stop at third. Tatis then fielded Josh Reddick's grounder to start an inning-ending double play.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: Placed RHP Dinelson Lamet on the 10-day injured list with right forearm inflammation a day after he came out of a game after just 2 1/3 innings. It's the second time he's gone on the IL with the ailment. Tingler said the Padres are optimistic Lamet with be OK. The Padres have brought him along slowly after he missed his final regular-season start of 2020 with an elbow issue. He opted to rehab in the offseason rather than have reconstructive surgery. To take his spot, RHP James Norwood was recalled from Triple-A El Paso.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Jake Faria (0-0, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a three-game series at St. Louis, which will counter with LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 6.75 ERA).
Padres: LHP Blake Snell (3-3, 5.29 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati, which counters with RHP Tony Santillan (1-1, 3.29 ERA).
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