Nate Colbert held the San Diego Padres’ career record for home runs for half a century.
Until Tuesday night.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, his 164th long ball with the Padres, to break the mark Colbert set between 1969-74 and lead San Diego to a 7-3 victory against the host Seattle Mariners.
The mark came in Machado’s 794th game with the franchise.
The teams will wrap up their two-game interleague series Wednesday night.
“Huge, especially in the situation of the game, give us the lead there and give us a nice little cushion,” Machado said of his 429-foot blast to straightaway center that provided the Padres (82-64) a 5-2 lead. “Definitely a special moment there for sure that I’ll never forget.”
Machado added a two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning.
“You have guys that anchor your lineup and he’s definitely that guy that anchors it, offensively, defensively,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a three-run shot in the third inning as San Diego overcame a 2-0 deficit and right-hander Yu Darvish earned his first victory since May 19 after stints on the injured (left groin strain) and restricted lists (private family matter).
It was Darvish’s 201st victory combined between Major League Baseball and Japan’s top league, tying Hideo Nomo for second among Japanese-born pitchers. Hiroki Kuroda has 203.
“Obviously he’s a legend,” Darvish said of Nomo. “I feel like I’m not close to him at this point in time. Maybe the numbers are what they are but as far as a pitcher coming from Japan I feel like I’m not even close to him.”
Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley hit solo shots for the Mariners (73-72) in the first and second innings, respectively, before Darvish settled down. Raleigh’s homer was his 30th of the season, just the 12th catcher to reach that mark multiple times.
“Certainly a tough one,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of the loss. “A lot of momentum swings early in the ballgame, back and forth. It seemed like their home runs came with runners on and ours were solos.”
Wednesday’s game is the second of a nine-game homestand for the Mariners, who are chasing the Houston Astros in the American League West. They are 4 1/2 games behind.
The pitching matchup is scheduled to feature a pair of right-handers in the Padres’ Michael King (12-8, 3.10 ERA) and the Mariners’ Bryan Woo (7-2, 2.36).
King beat visiting San Francisco 5-1 last Friday, going six innings and allowing one run on six hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts.
King lost 2-0 to the Mariners on July 10 in San Diego despite allowing just two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings with one walk and nine strikeouts. He’s 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA in three career appearances against the M’s, including that one start.
Woo beat host Oakland 6-4 on Thursday when he went five innings and gave up two runs on eight hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. Woo will be facing the Padres for the first time.
–Field Level Media