BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Merrill and Samad Taylor each hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and three more San Diego batters went deep as the Padres rolled to a 9-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Taylor’s home run was the first of his career, and it gave the Padres a 4-0 lead. Pete Alonso went deep in the bottom of the first for Baltimore, but Randy Vásquez (6-4) held the Orioles to two runs in five innings, and the Padres added two runs in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead. Then Gavin Sheets, Rodolfo Durán and Manny Machado added solo shots in the seventh, eighth and ninth for San Diego.
Orioles starter Trey Gibson (1-2) allowed only three hits in 4 1/3 innings, but he walked five with seven strikeouts. He was pulled after one of his pitches hit Xander Bogaerts in the helmet in the fifth. Bogaerts left the game the following inning.
Eight of Baltimore’s 10 hits came with two out. The Orioles were 6 for 6 with two walks and a hit batter in two-out, bases-empty situations. That made them the first team since at least 1974 to bat 1.000 with two outs and nobody on while having at least eight such plate appearances in a game.
The final of those situations came in the ninth. With two outs, nobody on and a six-run lead, Padres reliever Ron Marinaccio hit Gunnar Henderson with the first pitch. Marinaccio was ejected, and manager Craig Stammen came out to argue and was tossed too.
After Alonso’s solo homer in the first, Samuel Basallo drew a walk and Leody Taveras hit an RBI triple. That was all the scoring for the Orioles until Alonso’s RBI double in the seventh.
After Gibson hit Bogaerts in the fifth, the Padres had men on first and second with one out. Keegan Akin came on and issued a walk that loaded the bases, and Taylor’s single put San Diego up 5-2. Then pinch-hitter Nick Solak hit a sacrifice fly.
Solak’s contract was selected from Triple-A El Paso before the game, and the Padres put infielder Miguel Andujar (left hamstring) on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Thursday.
Up next
The Orioles were set to start Trevor Rogers (3-6) on Sunday against San Diego’s Walker Buehler (3-3).
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