San Diego Padres morning after: Baseball gods smile in strong win over Chicago Cubs
Don't worry, Fernando Tatis Jr. Those same baseball gods that seemed to be toying with the emotions of the San Diego Padres on Friday night finally smiled on the boys in brown and gold 24 hours later at Petco Park.
Tatis smacked a pair of home runs (giving him 11 on the season) and Ha Seong-Kim made one of the best defensive plays of the season so far to help the Padres even up the series with the Chicago Cubs with a 6-0 victory.
San Diego Padres: 3 players were heroes in Saturday's win over Chicago Cubs
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Pacing the offense on Saturday night was Tatis, the same player who openly wondered about the baseball gods and their treatment of the Padres after Friday night's 2-1 loss where the Padres mustered just four hits. However, Tatis hit a pair of home runs on Saturday, making sure there wasn't a lack of offense from the Padres. One of those blasts was a three-run homer in the eighth that put a bow on San Diego's win.
Ha Seong-Kim
Kim went 2-for-2 at the plate and made a highlight-reel defensive play to support Yu Darvish.
Kim entered the day tied for the team lead in bWAR at 2.1 with Juan Soto, and plays like that show just how valuable he is to the Padres.
Yu Darvish
Coming off an outing against the New York Yankees where he lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits, Darvish put together a masterful performance against the Cubs on Saturday.
He also gave the Padres exceptional length in his start, throwing 115 pitches in his tremendous outing. That's the most pitches he had thrown in a game since June 7, 2017, when he hurled 117 pitches as a member of the Texas Rangers.
With strong performances at the plate, on the mound, and in the field, no wonder the baseball gods finally smiled on the Padres on Saturday night.