Padres Ignited by Who Else? Wil Myers in 8th

The Padres were on their way to their third straight loss at the hands of the Nationals until they erupted in the 8th inning with 6 runs to take the lead and keep. Once again it all started with Wil Myers.

The Padres host the All Star Game in three weeks and need YOU to vote for Wil Myers HERE right away. He is doing all he can to show he deserves to be in the game and the Home Run Derby as he blasted another home run, his 9th of June and now 16th of the year.

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The Nationals will almost certainly be a playoff team this season under new Manager Dusty Baker, and they looked it the first two games outpacing the Padres in each game with relatively little drama. Saturday night Padres starter Colin Rea pitched into the 7th and allowed allowing just one run. He left though with runners on base and after Wil Myers knocked down a hard smash to first couldn’t feed to Brandon Maurer at first to break the 1-1 tie and give the Nationals the lead.

The Padres were down but not out. The Nationals have some concern in their bullpen, with rumors that they could target the Yankees Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline. Volatile closer Jonathan Papelbon is injured and that ripple effect was seen Saturday night in their relief corps.

Felipe Rivero failed to record an out in the 8th, allowed 6 runs, 5 earned thanks to his own error, and has allowed 14 runs in 5 appearances this month. Ounch.

The Padres were down 3-1 heading into the 8th after Kevin Quackenbush allowed a single bringing in Michael A Taylor that Brad Hand had at third base. Quack got the last out to be the pitcher of record heading into the bottom half.

Alexei Ramirez started it off with a single before Alexi Amarista singled and Jon Jay walked. Up comes Myers – the absolute last guy you want to face for the Padres right now. He hit a blooper into center that Taylor misplayed and became a double. After Matt Kemp was intentionally walked, Brett Wallace reached as he hit a comebacker to the mound that Rivero tried to throw home to start a 1-2-3 double play and it deflected off his catchers mitt. Melvin Upton Jr.was walked to bring in a run before Yangervis Solarte singled in two more runs to give them the 7-3 lead. 

Wil Myers was proud of what he saw from his team: “This whole series, I think we’ve played the Nationals really well. We lost the first two games, but I feel like we’ve been in every single game. We’ve had a chance at the end. We played really well against these guys, and tonight we were able to come through with a win.”

Fernando Rodney pitched another scoreless inning (24 1/3) as he closes in on the Padres all time scoreless streak (33 2/3 set by Cla Merdith in 2006) and scoreless streak to start a season(26 by Randy Jones in 1975). Pretty impressive company.

The Padres try to leave with a split of the Nationals Sunday after as Gio Gonzalez (3-5, 3.96) squares off against Drew Pomeranz (5-7, 2.88) at 1:40 PM at Petco Park. After the game the Padres head east to take on the Orioles starting Monday night.

It was a great game, and any doubt on who the offensive leader is for the Padres is certainly being erased daily by Wil Myers. He had 3 RBI, a home run and two doubles, with a stolen base after a walk thrown in for good measure. His at bats have become must see TV and the Padres are enjoying the ride.