For 50 years, Nate Colbert stood by himself atop the San Diego Padres’ all-time home run list. The likes of Dave Winfield, Ken Caminiti, Phil Nevin, Adrian Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn and Fernando Tatis Jr. have powered long blasts while wearing San Diego uniforms.
On Friday night, Colbert finally got company atop the leader board when Manny Machado hit two solo shots during the Padres’ 5-1 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants.
Tied with Colbert at 163 homers with San Diego, Machado will get a chance to break the record Saturday night when San Diego shoots for a series win that could help it further solidify its playoff position.
“It’s a great honor, you know? It’s been a short period of time in San Diego, so to be up on the leader board and be a part of history is special,” said Machado, 32.
Machado has played the last six years with the Padres, matching Colbert’s tenure with the team from 1969-74. Colbert twice hit 38 homers in a season and tied Stan Musial’s five homers in a doubleheader on Aug. 1, 1972, in Atlanta.
Machado will attempt to make San Diego history against San Francisco’s top starter, sinkerballer Logan Webb (11-9, 3.43 ERA). The right-hander last pitched on Sunday, giving up six runs on eight hits over six innings in a 7-5 home loss to Miami.
“Everyone did the right thing except for me today,” Webb said after the defeat. “I don’t feel good about it. That was my bad.”
Webb normally saves some of his best outings for the Padres, going 3-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 12 career appearances (11 starts) and permitting only two homers in 70 2/3 innings. He’s pitched twice against them this year, yielding four runs over 13 innings in two no-decisions.
While Webb and the Giants (69-73) try to salvage something from a lost season, San Diego (81-62) continues its push for a National League playoff spot and potential NL West title. Its win on Friday night allowed it to expand its lead over Arizona for the top wild-card spot to 1 1/2 games, which could mean home-field advantage for the first round.
And the Padres got help from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who fell to Cleveland 3-1 to cut San Diego’s deficit to four games in the division. Should San Diego and Los Angeles finish tied for first place, the Padres own the tiebreaker because they’ve already won the season series.
The only negative from Friday night was a left patella contusion for Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill of the Padres after he fouled a ball off his knee in the sixth inning. Merrill left the game before the eighth inning, but X-rays on his knee were negative.
San Diego will send right-hander Dylan Cease (12-10, 3.62 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. He’s coming off a no-decision Sunday against Tampa Bay after allowing three runs on two hits and three walks in five-plus innings of his team’s 4-3 victory.
Cease is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA in four career starts against the Giants. He’s 0-1 this year in two appearances vs. them, allowing four earned runs over 10 2/3 innings.
