Tommy Pham went 3-for-4 with a solo homer while eight hurlers pitched in to help the visiting San Diego Padres claim their 10th win in 11 games, 5-4 over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.
Following a 52-minute weather delay at the start, the contest turned into a bullpen game for both teams, with neither starter lasting past the third inning and the teams combining to use 16 pitchers.
Reliever Emilio Pagan (4-0) struck out the side in a perfect eighth to earn the win. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his major-league-leading 25th save for the Padres, who have won all five meetings with the Reds this season.
The Padres missed chance after chance to blow the game open and left the bases loaded four times while stranding 16 runners.
Blake Snell was a late scratch with a mild stomach illness, allowing Craig Stammen to make his first regular season start since Aug. 4, 2010, with Washington against Arizona. Stammen did start Game 3 of the National League Wild Card series last October against St. Louis.
The Padres wasted no time getting to Reds starter Tony Santillan (1-2). Pham singled to right-center. After Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a fielder’s choice, reigning NL player of the week Jake Cronenworth pulled a ball just beyond the reach of Joey Votto at first and down the right field line. The triple scored Tatis for a 1-0 lead. Manny Machado followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Cronenworth.
In the bottom of the first, Tyler Stephenson scored Jonathan India with a two-out single to center to cut the San Diego lead to 2-1.
The Padres extended their lead in the fourth when Pham homered off reliever Ryan Hendrix to right-center and Trent Grisham singled home Cronenworth to make it 5-1.
The Reds drew closer in the fifth when Jesse Winker connected for his second homer of the homestand and his team-leading 19th of the season, off Padres reliever Nabil Crismatt. The towering 410-foot shot in front of the power stacks in right-center cut San Diego’s lead to 5-4.
Eric Hosmer, who was called out on strikes to end the sixth, was ejected from the game in the top of the seventh during Pham’s at-bat after arguing with umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.
–Field Level Media