Manny Machado has had hot stretches before. But the future Hall of Famer added something new to his resume this weekend. For the first time in his career, Machado had 11 hits in a four-game series, punctuated by his 4-for-5 afternoon in Sunday’s 9-2 win in St. Louis to salvage a series split against the Cardinals.
Machado drove in a run with a double in the 1st inning, singled in the 3rd inning, doubled home two more runs in the 4th inning, and singled in the 8th inning to push his batting average for the season to an even .300.
He finished the series 11-for-17 with four extra-base hits and was on base 13 times total. Perhaps there’s an environmental factor at play here. St. Louis is under an extreme heat warning with temperatures in the mid-90’s.
“I’m not gonna lie, I love the heat. You know, it kind of makes me play like I did today. It reminds me of home,” says Machado, a native of Miami. “But, at the same time, it makes you love San Diego a little bit more.”
Not to be overlooked by Manny’s monster day, Xander Bogaerts continued his power resurgence with a solo home run, Fernando Tatis Jr. had two hits and scored three runs, and Luis Arraez added three knocks as part of a 16-hit Padres attack.
Stephen Kolek was the happy recipient of the avalanche of run support. The righty allowed two runs in 6.0 innings to cruise to his 4th win of the year and give San Diego a 5-5 road trip. Up next, the Friars return to Petco Park for what could be their most difficult homestand of the second half.
The Mets and Cardinals, both in the thick of the playoff hunt, come to town for a pair of three-game series sandwiched around an off day on Thursday, which happens to be the MLB Trade Deadline so the only day they’re not at the ballpark might be the most eventful one of the week.