The San Diego Padres will spend the off-season wondering what went wrong after they were eliminated from post-season contention on Friday, despite a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox, a finality that prompted Manny Machado to give his teammates a post-game pep talk.
“We did what we were supposed to do, but a little too late,” Machado said. “We’re going to grow from this... We’re capable of playing better baseball than we did this year.”
Juan Soto was batting in the seventh inning when the Miami Marlins completed a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Pittsburgh Pirates for their 83rd win, ensuring that the Padres would not get one of the National League’s three wild-card berths.
Photo: AFP
Despite winning 12 of their past 14 games, the Padres (80-80) could not overcome a mostly sluggish performance by a star-filled team who started the season with the major leagues’ third-highest payroll at nearly US$258 million.
A 1-9 skid in early May dropped Padres below .500 — San Diego last had a winning record on May 10.
“We know we had a tough year and left a lot on the table,” manager Bob Melvin said. “All we can do at this point in time is win games and create a good feeling.”
The MLB’s three-highest spenders all failed to reach the post-season, with the New York Mets (72-86) and the New York Yankees (81-79) also eliminated.
“It’s disappointing,” Martinez said. “There’s lessons to learn from this year; good lessons and bad lessons. Just remember this taste and come out with some hunger for next year.”
In St Louis, Missouri, Cincinnati hit six home runs, including Nick Martini’s three-run shot in the first inning, in a 19-2 rout of the Cardinals, keeping the Reds alive in the NL wild-card race.
Jonathan India, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte and Tyler Stephenson also homered for the Reds, who scored their most runs in a game since putting up 20 against the Chicago Cubs on May 26 last year.
With the win and the Chicago Cub’s 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati are now tied with the Cubs, 1.5 games behind the Marlins for the last NL wild card.
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Angels 5, Athletics 1
‧ Blue Jays 11, Rays 4
‧ Braves 6, Nationals 10
‧ Diamondbacks 1, Astros 2
‧ Giants 2, Dodgers 6
‧ Mariners 8, Rangers 0
‧ Orioles 0, Red Sox 3
‧ Rockies 6, Twins 7
‧ Royals 12, Yankees 5
‧ Tigers 5, Guardians 7
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
RSS