Giants observations: Manny Machado walk-off blast evens Padres series

What we learned as Machado’s walk-off blast evens series originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

SAN DIEGO — The Giants once again stunned San Diego’s new bullpen star, but the new-look Padres had enough All-Stars to overcome it.

Juan Soto led them early and Manny Machado hit a three-run, walk-off homer off Tyler Rogers to end a night that had plenty of ninth-inning drama. After the Giants scored three runs off Josh Hader in the top of the ninth, Machado got them all back with one swing, clinching a 7-4 win.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Giants. They fell back to 6 1/2 games out of the final wild card spot.

The Giants took the lead in the first when LaMonte Wade Jr. homered for the second time in three games, and for a while, Alex Cobb was able to make it hold up. But Juan Soto hit a solo shot in the fourth to tie the game and then jump started a two-run rally with a leadoff double in the sixth.

The Giants didn’t have much of anything going against Joe Musgrove, one of the breakout stars of this season, but they got a couple of two-out singles off lefty Adrian Morejon in the eighth to bring Thairo Estrada to the plate as the go-ahead run. Estrada popped up.

The Padres handed a three-run lead to Hader, which ordinarily leads to a handshake line. But the Giants continue to have his number.

Hader faced seven Giants and retired just two of them, and those outs came on a blown strike three call and a diving catch in left. Hader walked three and hit another batter, and the Giants scored three runs before the All-Star closer was removed. Hader has allowed nine runs in three appearances against the Giants this year and 10 in 37 appearances against the rest of baseball.

Glove Party

The Giants started to play much more solid defense late in July, and a nifty play helped them win Monday night’s game. They kept the highlights coming on Tuesday.

Joc Pederson made a sliding catch in the third and Estrada stopped a hard shot from Jurickson Profar with runners on the corners in the fifth, but the biggest play came from Mike Yastrzemski.

Story continues

Playing center field, Yastrzemski leapt at the wall in the deepest part of the yard, robbing Brandon Drury of a homer. That would have been the second homer in four at-bats for the Padres, but Yastrzemski ended the inning and quieted a crowd that was waiting to explode.

Still Searching

Cobb hasn’t picked up a win since May 17, with plenty of bad luck ruining promising outings over the last two-plus months. He was sharp early Tuesday, striking out four and getting a double play the first time through the order, but Soto tied the game in the fourth and the Padres opened the sixth with three consecutive hits.

That ended Cobb’s night, and when two of the runners scored, he was charged with three earned in five-plus innings. Cobb struck out seven, walked two and allowed six hits, all coming from the fourth inning on. His next shot at a ‘W’ will come next week at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

First Of Many

Soto thought he had drawn his second walk in as many plate appearances when he took a close 3-1 pitch in the fourth. The Giants would have been much better off with a walk.

Soto was called back to the plate and he demolished a high 96 mph sinker from Cobb, picking up his first homer in a Padres uniform. The blast was his 22nd of the year.

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