6:59 AM UTC
AJ Cassavell
@AJCassavellSAN DIEGO -- The best ending is the one you never see coming.
For eight innings on Friday night, the largest crowd in Petco Park history partied. The Padres were cruising against the division-rival Diamondbacks, and the 47,171 fans in attendance reveled in what felt certain to be an easy victory.
By the end of the night, they were celebrating that victory, after all. Only there was nothing easy about it -- and that only made it sweeter.
The Padres have staged their share of dramatic walk-offs this season, but none wilder than Friday’s 10-8 roller coaster of a victory over Arizona. San Diego entered the ninth inning leading by five runs, surrendered six, and then won the game with a tying homer from Jurickson Profar and a walk-off drive from Manny Machado in the bottom of the frame.
“We're going to fight until that 27th out is made,” Machado said. “Whether we’re making it in that last inning or we’re winning it in that last inning, we’re going to continue to fight.”
In the span of one wild ninth inning, the game featured a grand slam and a go-ahead home run from the D-backs, followed by Profar’s tying blast and Machado’s walk-off. According to STATS, it marked the first time in AL/NL history that four different players had accomplished those four feats in the same inning of a game.
The Padres had absorbed an all-timer of a gut punch in the top of the frame. Staked to a five-run lead, right-hander Enyel De Los Santos loaded the bases, prompting manager Mike Shildt to call for closer Robert Suarez.
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It marked Suarez’s third appearance in as many days, including 1 1/3 innings in Texas on Wednesday. From his first pitch, it was clear he wasn’t his usual dominant self. Alek Thomas hit a grand slam to cut the Arizona deficit to one run. After Corbin Carroll’s two-out double, Randal Grichuk gave the D-backs an 8-7 lead with a two-run homer into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.
Petco Park was stunned into silence. Well, most of it, anyway. In the home dugout, the Padres weren’t resigned to their fate.
“Guys came back in, good energy,” manager Mike Shildt said. “It's, ‘Let's go, let's find a way.’ The rest is, as we say, history. In front of the largest crowd in Petco Park history. That's a pretty memorable one.”
Profar led off the bottom of the ninth inning -- and for a team that needed a jolt of resiliency, there was no better man for the job. A bargain-bin signing in Spring Training, Profar has been perhaps the best outfielder in the National League this season. He has been the heart and soul of the Padres, and on Wednesday, he was named an All-Star for the first time, at age 31.
Facing D-backs closer Paul Sewald, Profar fell behind 0-2. But he worked the count full, before Sewald left a fastball over the heart of the plate. Profar launched it into the right-field seats for his 100th career home run and was subsequently serenaded with chants of M-V-P. The party was back on.
“We're showing who we are as a team,” Profar said. “We don't quit.”
Jake Cronenworth followed by working a walk, setting the stage for Machado. Sewald hung an 0-2 slider, and Machado made no mistake. He unloaded and then leaned back in the batter’s box, holding his one-handed follow-through. The Padres’ dugout spilled onto the field, offering Machado an impromptu high-five line on his way to first base.
It was Machado’s eighth walk-off home run -- all since the start of the 2014 season. That’s the most in the Majors in that span.
“This is up there with one of the best ones I've ever had,” Machado said. “Whenever you walk it off, it's always an incredible moment that, as kids, you always dream about.”
The Padres have been living it lately. They’ve notched six walk-off victories this season, including an MLB-best four via the home run.
“I expect us to do it,” Profar said. “... We’re making it normal, right?”
Normal? No, “normal” probably isn’t the right word. Nothing in that ninth inning was normal. But these Padres have made a habit of winning games like this one. They’re now six games above .500 for the first time all season -- and the first time since 2022.
“Whether the game’s tied or we’re down, it’s, ‘Let’s find a way to win this game,’” Cronenworth said. “Whatever it takes.”
