SAN DIEGO: Jake Cronenworth has delivered his share of great hits to the Padres this season. Considering the calendar and the ranking, they are not much bigger than this.
On Sunday afternoon, Cronenworth threw a solo home run in the ninth inning, sending San Diego to a crucial 4-3 victory over the Astros at Petco Park. That win, along with a Reds defeat to the Tigers, brought the Padres back to possession of second-place National League Wildcats, halfway through Cincinnati.
“It’s been clutched all year,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “He has arrived with great moments, great bats, great plays. Therefore, it is quite appropriate to end this.
In fact, it was. Cronenworth turned a Ryne Stanek divider around, sending him to the front row beyond the right field deck and lighting a party at Petco Park. (And all he got for his problem was a piece of baby powder as he crossed the plate at home).
“I really just try to get to the base in any way possible,” Cronenworth said afterwards. “I got a good pitch.”
He got one. And at least in the bigger moments, Cronenworth doesn’t seem to be missing. Last month, he wrote a dramatic two-run tie game in the ninth inning against the Phillies. He is the first Padres player to have drawn at home and tied at the bottom of the ninth the same season since Jerry Morales in 1973.
In addition, Cronenworth has already won his first All-Star Game this season. He has played an excellent defense at first base, second base and short field (including an exceptional dive stop to steal Yuli Gurriel in the fourth inning on Sunday). He has hit several homers inside the park. It hit the cycle. And he even shed some skin earlier this year, leaving Mookie Betts without effect.
“His personality and who he is is always pretty uniform,” Tingler said. “It’s never too high, never too low. He is always in this calm ground and I think that helps him to excel in those moments, when it is late in the game and the heartbeat begins ”.
This same shot is particularly useful for a falling player and, without making a mistake, Cronenworth had been falling. He came in on Sunday just beating .136 with a .406 OPS for the previous two weeks.
“The last week has definitely been tough,” Cronenworth said, “from the Arizona series to Los Angeles until the beginning of it. I’m just trying to get comfortable. … Personally, I’m not a very man. “Mechanic. I never try to think about mechanics. For me, it’s just, ‘Whenever I go into this box, I just feel as comfortable as I can.’
Surely he looked comfortable on Sunday, even before the race. Cronenworth took a walk during the Padres ’first three-run inning and played a single game in the sixth. He threw some outstanding defense in the short, and it was all afternoon from Cronenworth.
It’s funny, the way the Padres put together their list so meticulously for this year’s playoff clash, signing mega free agents and surpassing box office deals, and yet with their season in balance , one of his most important collaborators is an uninherited infielder. it was believed to be a band service to Tommy Pham’s trade.
Right-hander Chris Paddack was mostly solid on Sunday afternoon, and was extremely efficient, needing just 63 pitches to work through six more innings. Paddack, who strangely recorded neither a kick nor a walk, induced a mostly weak contact during the first six frames. But Yuli Gurriel and Carlos Correa threw consecutive homers to open the seventh, tying the game at 3 and ending Paddack’s day.
Still, Paddack kept the Fathers in the game without their things. He was particularly effective early on, working around some defensive mistakes that could have spiraled.
“I came out today and customized things and I said, ‘We’re going to win this series,'” Paddack said. “This will be one of those turning points. … With [25] there are games left, this is a good turning point in our season, especially with the departure of Croney ”.
After Paddack left, the Padres Bulls Park worked three goalless ball innings, setting the stage for Cronenworth to spark a tough party at home. It came less than 24 hours after an emphatic 10-2 win that saw Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado at his best.
Not to forget, the Fathers spent August badly wrapped up in the days of the dogs. Even their victories had none of that. Perhaps this kind of weekend, a party atmosphere with two impressive wins against a quality opposition, was precisely what they needed.
“When we’re playing the best we can, everyone is having a great time,” Cronenworth said. “Everyone dances in the cavity, throwing themselves at each other. … That joke and fun: when we do it every day and everyone trusts, it’s hard to win this team. “