Good morning,

We take a break from chronicling the uneven, perplexing and often downright boring Padres to appreciate the moments that occurred last night at Petco Park.

History happened.

Progress happened.

The history belonged to Manny Machado, who now has 2,001 career hits and 357 career home runs.

Machado seemed humbled by the moment, which is no small thing for him.

“This week has kind of made you realize how hard it is to get one hit in the big leagues,” Machado said. “And when you look up there and you’re celebrating 2,000, I mean, you want to step back a little bit and kind of just take it in and soak it in. This game is extremely hard, and super grateful that I’m able to even be a part of that list, and be a part of this journey. So hopefully there’s many more and it’s not over yet.”

You can read in my story (here) from last night about the scene at Petco Park and how Machado collected his three hits last night, including a home run for hit No. 2,001.

He is the 268th player ever to reach 2,000 hits and the 79th to also have at least 350 home runs. If we want to get more specific, he is now just the 72nd player to have at least 2,001 hits and 357 home runs.

That is where Machado is at in his career. With every handful of hits or home runs, his place in the game becomes loftier.

Machado’s .293 batting average and .838 OPS rank eighth and 16th, respectively, in the National League this season. His 15th home run moved him into a tie for the team lead with Fernando Tatis Jr.

But Machado lamented how long it took him to get those last few hits, as he batted .167 (9-for-54) in the 14 games leading up to last night.

“Obviously, in the back of my mind, you know how many you have left to get it and reach it,” he said. “It’s hard, I’m telling you. I’m not even lying about it. It was on my mind, and it definitely makes you realize how hard it is to get one.”

Well, he got the first of his next 1,000 last night too.

Machado has the rest of this season and then eight more under contract.

The math says he might have the best chance of joining the 3,000-hit club which currently has just 33 members.

Should Machado get 50 more hits this season and then average 130 hits over his next five seasons (which is 26 fewer than he has averaged over his past five 162-game seasons) he would be at 2,801 hits after the 2030 season.

That would leave him three years to get the final 199.

Asked about that milestone, he said the same as he has before: “I mean, I hope. That’s the plan. That’s the plan. I’m gonna shoot for it. I got a couple more years left here under contract, so hopefully they come.”

The progress

Yu Darvish made his first start of the season last night following a slow-played rehabilitation from an elbow issue that shut him down in spring training.

As I wrote in my game story (here) from last night’s 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks, Darvish’s performance was about what could have been expected of a pitcher who last pitched in a major league game in October.

You can read in the game story about the significance of the night for the Padres, what Darvish thought of his outing, his pitch mix and what is next.

His appearance was historic in its own right.

Darvish, who is in his 20th professional season dating to his 2005 debut in Japan, last night became the first Japanese pitcher to pitch in 13 MLB seasons, passing Hideo Nomo.

Darvish’s next win will be even more historic.

His 203 wins between Nippon Professional Baseball (93) and MLB (110) are tied with Hiroki Kuroda for the most ever by a Japanese-born player.

The same

Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo threw three pitches in the strike zone to the four batters he faced in the eighth inning, and he still got out of a bases-loaded jam he helped create.

The failure by the Padres to score after loading the bases with one out showcased some familiar problems.

Machado had led off the inning with a home run against Kyle Backhus to get the Padres to 6-3.

Luis Arraez followed with a walk before Gavin Sheets grounded out.

Morillo was then brought in to face Xander Bogaerts, who he walked on four pitches before walking Jake Cronenworth on five pitches.

That brought up Jose Iglesias, who earlier had singled pinch-hitting for designated hitter Trenton Brooks, the No.8 hitter. After taking a ball just below the knees, Iglesias chased a fastball up and in off the plate and popped out to shortstop.

Elias Díaz was called on to pinch-hit for fellow catcher Martín Maldonado and proceeded to go up 3-1 before taking a 99 mph fastball in the heart of the zone and then swinging through a 100 mph fastball that was two balls off the plate for an inning-ending strikeout.

Familiar? Yes:

  • The Padres finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and are batting .205 with runners in scoring position over their past 48 games, which is second worst in the major leagues in that span.
  • They are batting .235 with the bases loaded, which is 23rd among the 30 MLB teams this season.
  • Their No.8 hitters are batting .193 this season, third-worst in the majors.
  • Their No.9 hitters are batting .194, also third worst.
  • They have gotten a .165 average and .480 OPS from their pinch-hitters, which both rank 22nd.

The Padres did have a number of good at-bats last night.

The two that ended the eighth — especially by Iglesias — were not good. Neither were the ones by Tatis and Jackson Merrill in the seventh inning that left runners at second and third.

Nothing going right

Merrill was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts last night and is batting .116 (5-for-51) with 16 strikeouts over his past 11 games.

He has swung at 18 of the 32 pitches he has seen outside the strike zone over the past four games, which is a reversal of where he had been trending for a stretch.

There is no denying he is scuffling. If there was any depth at all to the Padres’ lineup, it is inconceivable he would not have been moved to the bottom half of the order.

But, man, did he get robbed in the ninth inning last night:

To recap what you just saw: Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas covered 125 feet, reaching a top sprint speed of 31.3 feet per second (preposterously fast) and then put his glove out to the side to make a basket catch while sliding on his knees just before hitting the wall.

Weakness vs. weakness

Arizona starter Zac Gallen had allowed at least one home run in each of his past six starts. He allowed three in one of those games and two in two others.

But he threw six scoreless innings last night.

The Padres’ 96 home runs are fourth fewest in the major leagues, and they have hit just three over the past seven games. Two of those are by Machado.

Merrill’s last homer was May 27, a stunning 115 at-bats ago. Tatis has two  homers since May 27, a span of 135 at-bats.

Tidbits

  • You can read Jeff Sanders’ story (here) from yesterday afternoon with some highly encouraging news about Michael King’s progress.
  • Darvish was born on Aug. 16, 1986, in Habikino, Japan. Some 8,500 miles away, in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Maldonado was also born on that day. And last night in San Diego, they became just the 16th starting pitcher and catcher who shared a birthday to work together in a major league game. At 38 years, 325 days old, they were also the oldest such pair.
  • Yuki Matsui allowed two runs last night and has allowed 10 runs in his past five appearances (five innings). His ERA has risen 2.14 points (to 5.14) in that time.
  • Arraez was 1-for-3 with a walk last night. He is 9-for-16 with two walks in the four games on this homestand.
  • Tatis was 0-for-3 with two walks last night. He has a .419 on-base percentage during a nine-game on-base streak.
  • Cronenworth was 1-for-2 with a walk. His .360 OBP this season is the highest he has ever had 65 games into any of the five seasons in which he has played that many games.

All right, that’s it for me.

Talk to you tomorrow.