SAN DIEGO — Monday had already brought a partial solar eclipse to this city’s sky, which commemorated the 20th anniversary of Petco Park. Then, Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres outperformed the Chicago Cubs in historic fashion.
The Padres rallied from an eight-run deficit to beat the Cubs 9-8 and tie the largest comeback victory in franchise history. Chicago scored four runs in the second off Yu Darvish and four more in the fourth before San Diego made it a game with a seven-run sixth, the Padres’ highest-scoring inning since another seven-run stretch last August 5 against Los Angeles. Angeles Dodgers.
Monday night’s exclamation point came in the bottom of the eighth: After being repelled by the first pitch he saw from Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay, Tatis hammered the next offering for a two-run homer and tore up the bases as the crowd and home dugout exulted.
“All the credit goes to the boys. We were down 8-0 and we were never out of the game,” said Tatis, who was hitless in his first three at-bats and narrowly missed the shortstop’s steal. Cubs Dansby Swanson with a triple in the top of the fourth. “We continued to take good strikes against tough pitches, and the boys just started executing, we started moving the line and we continued to believe in each other.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. for the lead!
THE @Parents came back with a bang from 8-0! pic.twitter.com/inwjsDx0Mn
– MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2024
The Padres last managed to erase an eight-run deficit on July 8, 2021, when pitcher Daniel Camarena entered in relief of Darvish and, later batting for himself, launched a grand slam against the Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer for his first career hit. . Late Monday, inside the local clubhouse, several Padres who participated in the 2021 game wondered if their latest comeback carried the day.
“You have a pitcher who gets his first hit, and it’s a grand slam against Max Scherzer — it’s pretty epic,” first baseman Jake Cronenworth said. “Also quite an epic comeback tonight.”
Cronenworth is responsible for restarting Monday’s resurgence. After Tatis drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, Cronenworth delivered nine pitches at bat that included a near-homer foul ball and ended with a two-run blast that easily stayed fair. Manny Machado then hit an error, Jurickson Profar singled, Ha-Seong Kim tripled and Jackson Merrill singled before Xander Bogaerts, like Cronenworth, hit his first home run of the season. It was 8-7.
According to the Padres, their rally actually started two innings earlier, after the Cubs took an 8-0 lead. In the dugout, Tatis lamented nearly intercepting Swanson’s shot toward the wall in the right field corner. Manager Mike Shildt encouraged his star right fielder to continue to give his best effort. Tatis responded that that’s exactly what he and his teammates would do.
“We both knew we were going to fight in this match and we would continue until the end,” Tatis said.
Several innings later, after Robert Suarez struck out the side in the top of the ninth, the Padres celebrated the franchise’s fourth victory in eight runs. Besides the so-called Daniel Camarena game, they recovered from such a deficit on June 16, 1974 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and on May 23, 1970 against the San Francisco Giants. Monday also continued an early season trend for a 6-7 Padres team that stayed afloat with several offensive outbursts. San Diego has scored five or more runs in an inning four times in 2024.
“I see a continuation of the identity that this team has defined from the very beginning,” Shildt said. “We talked about (how) winners find a solution, improve as the game goes on, never give up in competition, no matter the circumstances. I think this club has already proven it several times this year and clearly proved it tonight.
(Photo of Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrating his eighth-inning home run: Orlando Ramirez/USA Today)