Nick Castellanos ended an 0-for-19 skid with a single that put the Padres ahead for good in the fifth inning.<\/p>\n
Ty France contributed in almost every way, including a lot of action around third base.<\/p>\n
Manny Machado went 3-for-5 with two doubles but departed following a groundout in the sixth inning after dealing with some sort of left leg issue throughout the game.<\/p>\n
Gavin Sheets hit another home run.<\/p>\n
Randy V\u00e1squez grinded through five innings.<\/p>\n
Adrian Morej\u00f3n (1\u2154 innings) and Jason Adam (1\u2153 innings) worked overtime.<\/p>\n
Mason Miller closed out a non-save situation by looking more human than he had all season, got jobbed by the home plate umpire and had his scoreless innings streak come to an end.<\/p>\n
It all added up to the Padres returning home from Mexico City after a week spent in the mountains and rebounding from a tough loss on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood win for the Padres against a really good Chicago Cubs team,\u201d manager Craig Stammen said. \u201cFeel really good about the end result for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about (or almost all) that led to it.<\/p>\n
Streak over*<\/p>\n
It had to end. It didn\u2019t have to end like this.<\/p>\n
Or maybe the only way it was going to end was if something weird happened.<\/p>\n
Mason Miller was pragmatic after his team-record scoreless streak ended at 34\u2154 innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cPadres win,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what matters at the end of the day. So glad to bear down. Kind of staring down the barrel \u2014 bases loaded, no outs, tying run at the plate. Just got back to it and got out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs became the first team to score on Miller since Aug. 5, which was his second game with the Padres. They were the first team to get three hits against him since May 23, when he was with the Athletics.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Millerstreaks.png\")
<\/p>\n
The first of those three hits was a slow roller up the third base line by Matt Shaw. The ball trickled along the line and almost to a stop when France picked it up, as a fielder is generally supposed to do when a ball like that veers foul.<\/p>\n
Umpire Dan Merzel had been trailing the ball and, as soon as France picked it up, emphatically signaled it was a fair ball.<\/p>\n
France briefly protested but Merzel walked back behind home plate. As Miller readied to face Dansby Swanson, a replay on the video boards showed the ball had been foul. Stammen has been on the top step of the dugout and at that point went to confront Merzel, who asked third base umpire Shane Livensparger for input. Livensparger said he also had it fair.<\/p>\n
There is no guarantee Miller would have retired Shaw had the at-bat continued, but the way it went down inarguably altered the inning.<\/p>\n
\u30d1\u30c9\u30ec\u30b9\u306a\u3093\u3068\u304b\u52dd\u5229\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25
\u5e8f\u76e4\u9234\u6728\u8aa0\u4e5f\u9054\u306b\u9023\u6253\u3055\u308c\u3066\u5371\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u3051\u3069\u3001\u30bf\u30a4\u30d5\u30e9\u30f3\u30b9\u306e4\u6253\u70b9\u304c\u30c7\u30ab\u3059\u304e\u305f\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7<\/p>\n
\u7403\u5be9\u306e\u30df\u30e9\u30af\u30eb\u30b8\u30e3\u30c3\u30b8\u3067\u3053\u308c\u304c\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3\u4e0a\u30d2\u30c3\u30c8\u3068\u5224\u5b9a\u3055\u308c\u305f\u3053\u3068\u3082\u3042\u308a\u30df\u30e9\u30fc\u306e\u7121\u5931\u70b9\u306f\u9014\u5207\u308c\u307e\u3057\u305f\u2026\ud83d\udc80#ForTheFaithful<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vxKBfNvL1D<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 \u30bf\u30c6\u30a3\u306f\u30cf\u30a4\u30bb\u30f3\u30b9\u203c\ufe0e (@Tati_Highsense) April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI mean, call is what it is,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI thought I saw something different, but he was a lot closer than I was. I think everybody in the stadium had an opinion, but ultimately, it\u2019s only his that matters. So it\u2019s the cards we were dealt.\u201d<\/p>\n Swanson followed by lining a 2-2 fastball through the left side, and Pete Crow-Armstrong grounded a single through the right side to load the bases.<\/p>\n A fielder\u2019s choice grounder by Nico Hoerner got the first out but also scored a run that made the score 9-6.<\/p>\n Miller then bounced a 2-0 slider in front of the plate that got past catcher Freddy Fermin, hit off Merzel\u2019s leg and bounced almost to the Cubs dugout as Swanson ran home.<\/p>\n Busch grounded out three pitches later, and Miller ended the game by striking out Alex Bregman on three pitches.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe concentration slipped a little bit,\u201d Miller conceded. \u201c But I still feel like I threw the ball really well. I was in and around the zone. I think probably the most critical thing was the wild pitch. That\u2019s not something that I really want to be doing ever, but especially when it brings a run home. But I thought I made good pitches. Dansby had a nice swing on the fastball up. The other two hits, you know, plenty other times they\u2019ve been ground balls right to a guy. So it\u2019s kind of baseball and the ball bounced my way for a while, and sometimes you\u2019re due for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller had joked about (but was also seriously tired of) the repeated questions about the streak. So there was a bright side.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have to talk about it anymore,\u201d Miller said. \u201cBut the beauty of it is you get to start another one.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he could reflect on the streak, he said, \u201cI guess now is a little too soon, but probably tonight and tomorrow reflect on it and come in tomorrow ready to start a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n Best is better<\/p>\n Miller\u2019s final eight pitches were sliders. The only two fastballs he threw all night were put in play \u2014 the single by Swanson and the RBI grounder by Hoerner.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely got away from the game plan a little bit,\u201d said Miller, who threw a season-high 21 pitches. \u201cBut you lean on what\u2019s working well. And being back at sea level, the slider was moving a little better, so it made it easy to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller\u2019s four-seam fastball averages 101.5 mph, highest in the major leagues. But it has not ever been considered his best pitch.<\/p>\n That is his slider. And it is even better this year.<\/p>\n For the first time in his four big-league seasons, Miller is throwing his slider more than his fastball (53.6% to 38.3%).<\/p>\n And what he is doing with the slider for the first time is why he has been so effective. Even after allowing his first two runs of the season, he has 1.62 ERA and a preposterous minus-0.36 FIP. (The metric Fielding Indepent Pitching is like ERA but takes out chance by measuring a pitcher on controllable results: strikeouts, walks, hit batters and home runs.)<\/p>\n Shaw\u2019s dribbled single* and Crow-Armstrong\u2019s 94 mph single were the first hits against Miller\u2019s slider this season. Opponents are now 2-for-29 (.069) with 22 strikeouts on at-bats ending on the pitch.<\/p>\n Miller is this season for the first time finding success\u00a0manipulating his slider differently depending on the batter.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Now he can do so while landing the pitch in the strike zone or out of the zone pretty much at will.<\/p>\n To left-handed batters, the slider moves vertically. To righties, it moves right to left.<\/p>\n \u201cJust having the ability to do that but also be in zone and out of zone,\u201d Miller said, \u201cthat has been the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Not the time<\/p>\n One of the great mysteries when his hiring was announced was what could possibly cause the mild-mannered, extremely respectful, entirely logical, highly gracious Stammen to argue with an umpire enough to get ejected.<\/p>\n It will happen, because Stammen is a fierce competitor and virtually every manager at some point finds himself either overcome by the emotion of the moment or the compulsion to stick up for his players and\/or make a statement.<\/p>\n Plenty of managers might have thought Merzel\u2019s boner provided such a moment.<\/p>\n Stammen did not.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that situation, I\u2019m thinking about my closer on the mound,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cAnd you can talk about all the things. I don\u2019t know if the scoreless streak went through my head at that point, but it was about what puts him in the best situation to finish the game properly without me calling a timeout on him and stalling him. That was my main concern. I thought if I went crazy and wild, that wasn\u2019t going to help us win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n There have, by the way, been 22 men to manage at least a season\u2019s worth of games since 1905 and never get ejected. But none managed in the past 50 years.<\/p>\n It might have helped a few of them to have been Hall of Fame players, as Mickey Cochrane, Water Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Ted Williams are on the list. And it is conceivable Hank O\u2019Day was given leeway by umpires, as he managed two seasons (1912 and 1914) while taking a break from the job that got him selected to the Hall of Fame. That job? He was an umpire for 30 years.<\/p>\n Heating up! Slowed down?<\/p>\n From the time he had to speed up and then slide into second base with his first double of the game in the third inning, Machado did not seem comfortable.<\/p>\n He kept stretching and grabbing at his left leg.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t help that he went to the ground and lunged for a few balls while playing third base or that he again doubled and slid into second base in the fifth inning.<\/p>\n His limp was not pronounced, but it was noticeable as he walked around the field. And the end of his night came when he appeared uncomfortable running partway down the line on a groundout that ended the fifth inning. France moved from first to third, and Sheets came in to play first base.<\/p>\n \u201c(Machado) is fine,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cWe took him out as a precaution. Looked like he was just going down the line a little slow, came out of the box a little awkwardly. He had a couple slides at second that didn\u2019t feel great on this lower half. So we\u2019ll talk to him tomorrow, see how he\u2019s feeling, and then kind of evaluate him going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n If Machado has to sit for an extended time, now would seem to be about the worst time for it to happen.<\/p>\n He has had multiple hits the past two games, the first time that has happened this season.\u00a0He followed two home runs Sunday with two doubles Monday and is 9-for-22 during a five-game hitting streak, his longest of the season by three games.<\/p>\n Further, nine of the 19 balls he has put in play at 100 mph or harder this season have come in the past eight games.<\/p>\n Anyone who has watched Machado for a number of years is aware that once he gets hot he generally keeps going for weeks.<\/p>\n Tough turnaround<\/p>\n There was also a thought that Machado\u2019s trouble was exacerbated by fatigue due to having spent the previous seven days in Denver (elev. 5,280 feet) and Mexico City (elev. 7,350 feet), playing the last of five games in that span on Sunday and then getting home around 2 a.m. Monday morning.<\/p>\n Other players were feeling it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a long road trip \u2026 with the altitude,\u201d Sheets said. \u201cAnd the sleep was weird. The body, you can feel it today. But it\u2019s part of what we do. You know? It\u2019s part of what makes what we do really hard, and you\u2019ve just got to embrace it and be ready to go. And enjoy the suck.\u201d<\/p>\n Sick play, sick player<\/p>\n Fernando Tatis Jr. made a catch on a flare into shallow right field that very few players could make.<\/p>\n To be clear, many regular second basemen might have caught the ball muscled off the skinny part of the bat by Hoerner in the fourth inning. But it is possible none would have done so after misplaying the ball at the start and then finished the play by making an out in the manner Tatis did.<\/p>\n Spectacular snag from 6’4 Fernando Tatis Jr. at 2nd base <\/p>\n Air Nando is back!#Padres<\/a> #ForTheFaithful<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WRSDtmGoNc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Carlos (@LFGPads19) April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n What that video does not show is that Tatis, who was starting at second base for the fourth time in his career, took a small step forward and froze for an instant before running back 21 feet and leaping to make a twisting backhanded catch with his back to the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it wasn\u2019t hit that hard,\u201d Tatis said later.<\/p>\n He said it through the sniffles. He has the flu.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a bad night for a guy with a fever and body aches.<\/p>\n Tatis was 2-for-5 with both of his singles scorched \u2014 at 113 and 112 mph.<\/p>\n Before the game, I was watching Tatis work at second base. As he fielded grounders on the run and near shortstop and threw across the diamond to first base, I recalled some of his incredible plays as a shortstop his first three big-league seasons.<\/p>\n I told him later I had almost forgotten how good he was in the infield.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tatis has embraced right field and won two Gold Gloves (and been voted the Platinum Glove winner in 2025). But he has continued looking at the infield longingly.<\/p>\n \u201cThey never let me mature there,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I like being in the dirt.\u201d<\/p>\n For the record, when the Padres needed to protect a lead and put what they felt was their best defense on the field in last night\u2019s eighth inning, Tatis moved to right field to replace Castellanos and Jake Cronenworth entered the game to play second.<\/p>\n Getting it done<\/p>\n Stammen has acknowledged his biggest struggle as a former pitcher is that he wants to believe his pitchers can get through trouble<\/a>. Early in the season, he was guilty of leaving some of them in games too long.<\/p>\n Last night, V\u00e1squez convinced Stammen he was up to going back out for the fifth inning after throwing 92 pitches in the first four.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was like, \u2018Yes, give me the ball,\u2019\u201d Stammen recalled. \u201cWhen a pitcher is that convicted and feels good, you feel comfortable with him going out for the fifth. And he pitched a great fifth inning, probably his best of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Stammen made it clear to him the Padres could not afford what was a 5-3 deficit to get any bigger.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018Buddy, you\u2019ve got to hold it and get your win,\u2019\u201d Stammen said. \u201cAnd he held it right there.\u201d<\/p>\n What V\u00e1squez did was record his first 1-2-3 inning of the game. And because the Padres took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, he was credited the win.<\/p>\n The Padres have won all six of V\u00e1squez\u2019s starts this season, and he is 3-0.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old right-hander allowed a solo home run in the second inning and a grand slam in the third last night but still has a 2.94 ERA across 33\u2154 innings this season.<\/p>\n Even when surviving was his main talent in 2024 and \u201825, he did so well enough for the Padres to win an abundance of his starts.<\/p>\n Before you go thinking the Padres just score all the time when he pitches, V\u00e1squez ranks fourth among the team\u2019s starters in run support per nine innings. He was eighth last season and third in 2024.<\/p>\n Fast France<\/p>\n France drove in two runs with a bases-loaded ground rule double with two outs in the first inning. He stole second base to get in position to score on Castellanos\u2019 go-ahead single in the fifth. He tripled in the seventh.<\/p>\n Even though the stolen base came without a throw and the triple was his first since 2022, he said swiping the bag was the best thing he did.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s hard,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re all so rare, so probably the stolen base. That\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n It was the fourth stolen base of his career. He has one each of the past four seasons.<\/p>\n It was the fifth triple of his career and stopped a drought of 452 games in which he had at least one at-bat and did not triple. That was the 10th-longest active triple-less streak in MLB.<\/p>\n A TRIPLE FOR TY FRANCE pic.twitter.com\/E1YJMVJukA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SleeperPadres (@SleeperPadres) April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n As triples often do \u2014 especially for non-rapid players like France \u2014 this one came via a quirk.<\/p>\n The ball exited France\u2019s bat at 90 mph and rolled just inside the third base bag and out of the reach of a lunging Bregman. It skipped into foul territory, and the left fielder (Shaw) charged, apparently thinking it would hit the side wall where it juts toward the playing field. The ball instead rolled all the way to the corner, and Shaw had to turn and give chase.<\/p>\n \u201cI peaked up as it got halfway to second, and I saw it was still rolling to the wall,\u201d France said. \u201cI was like, \u2018All right, I\u2019ve got to turn the burners on here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Finally<\/p>\n Castellanos had one hit in his previous 25 at-bats entering last night\u2019s game and went 0-for-2 to start. To that point, he was batting .067 with two strikes (2-for-30) this season.<\/p>\n It certainly seemed possible the 34-year-old veteran of 13 seasons might be playing his way off the team sooner than later.<\/p>\n The Padres sent down infielder Sung-Mun Song earlier in the day after he served as their extra man in Mexico City, and there was no overt indication that Castellanos was on his way out.<\/p>\n But from the start, he was a flier. The Padres are paying him the MLB minimum ($780,000) after he was released by the Phillies, who are paying the remainder of his $20 million salary.<\/p>\n Castellanos is their worst defensive third baseman, their worst defensive outfielder and he was not hitting.<\/p>\n So \u2026<\/p>\n That is when Castellanos sent a 2-2 fastball from Ben Brown up the middle to drive in Machado from third and France from second and turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.<\/p>\n It was at least a sign of life the Padres can choose to cling to. And that Castellanos can as well.<\/p>\n He had five plate appearances in 10 days leading up to yesterday. He has last played on Wednesday, when he made his 12th start of the season.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a tough ask of a guy who has started at least 147 games each of the previous three seasons and started no fewer than 133 games every season since 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest problem is that I\u2019m an over-thinker,\u201d Casetallanos said after the game. \u201cI feel like when I\u2019m at my best is (when) I\u2019m able to settle into a Groundhog Day sort of routine.\u201d<\/p>\n He has spoken before about his trouble adjusting to becoming a platoon player late last season. \u201cWhen my switch is off, it\u2019s all the way off,\u201d he said last night. \u201cFor me, the season would start, and the switch would go on, and then it\u2019s on for six months. So it\u2019s just an adjustment, and I\u2019ll settle in. I\u2019ve always been able to figure it out. Just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Castellanos talked earlier this season about the extra work he does before games as he adjusts to being a part-time player. And the process is ongoing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just doing the best I can to take it all in, focus on the big picture, which is us winning baseball games. Honestly, it\u2019s an adjustment. I\u2019m somebody that \u2026 my whole life has gotten consistent at-bats, and the rhythm of the game is kind of my teacher. It helps me with my work the next day, and it helps me just kind of find a groove. Rhythm for me is everything, so just kind of learning how to feel good without feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n Castellanos finished 1-for-4 last night and is batting .154\/.200\/.212 in 55 plate appearances. Despite the paltry numbers, he has had some big hits. He is tied with Xander Bogaerts for second on the team with three go-ahead RBIs, one behind team leader Ram\u00f3n Laureano. Castellanos had 59 fewer plate appearances than Bogaerts and 60 fewer plate appearances than Laureano.<\/p>\n Not leading men<\/p>\n The Padres do not play from ahead very often.<\/p>\n When they scored three runs in the first inning last night, it doubled their first-inning run total for the season. It also gave a starting pitcher a lead as early as the second inning for just the fourth time this season. That is pretty remarkable for a team that is 19-9.<\/p>\n Tidbits<\/p>\n You can read in Jeff Sanders\u2019 notebook (here<\/a>) about how Jeremiah Estrada\u2019s rehab is going. One more thing<\/p>\n P.S. You know I almost never do this. But I wanted to do you a favor with this reminder: You can get a digital subscription to the Union-Tribune (here<\/a>) for $1 for a year.<\/p>\n I have no idea how that math works out, since this newsletter is free but I don\u2019t work for free and it is not free for my company to send me everywhere the Padres go.<\/p>\n Here is some math I can do: We write about 500 stories on the Padres just from the start of spring training to the end of the season. So that\u2019s about five stories for every penny.<\/p>\n Anyway, think about it.<\/p>\n All right, that\u2019s it for me.<\/p>\n Talk to you tomorrow.<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\nPadres starting pitchers have pitched with a lead at any point in just 14 of the team\u2019s 28 games. The starters have pitched with a lead in just 35 of the 136 innings they have begun this season.
\nDuring the 5-3 road trip the Padres completed Sunday, they led for just 19 innings while trailing for 26 and being tied for 27.
\nFor the season, the Padres have led at the end of 104 innings, trailed at the end of 77 innings and been tied at the end of 74 innings.<\/p>\n
\nSheets\u2019 home run in the eighth inning was his fourth of the season, tying him with Laureano and Machado for the team lead. It was his second in a game in which he came off the bench. Sheets is 4-for-7 and also has a double coming off the bench this season. He is batting .221 (17-for-77) with eight doubles and two home runs in 21 starts.
\nMiguel Andujar, acquired primarily for his ability to hit left-handed pitchers, is batting .250\/.333\/375 in 18 plate appearances against lefties and .333\/.360\/.458 in 50 plate appearances against righties. He was 0-for-1 with a walk against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, a left-hander, and 1-for-2 against a pair of right-handed relievers last night.
\nTatis\u2019 39 balls in play at 100 mph or harder are tied with the Nationals\u2019 James Wood for most in the major leagues. Wood, a former Padres minor leaguer, has 10 home runs and 21 total hits among those 39 balls hit that hard. Tatis has 18 hits, three sacrifice flies and no homers.
\nThe Padres have gone on to win five of the eight games in which they have lost a lead.
\nThe Padres tied their season high for hits (five) and at-bats (17) with runners in scoring position.
\nThe Cubs were out of ABS challenges by the third inning after unsuccessfully challenging two ball calls. But they were not both challenged by catcher Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros. Boyd challenged a ball call on the first batter of the game. Entering yesterday, pitchers had challenged just 41 calls. Just 16 (39%) had been successful. That is compared to the 64.5% of challenges won by catchers, who had challenged 672 calls.<\/p>\n