Freddy Fermin's first homer halts Padres' losing skid at six games

Jeff Sanders, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jun 7, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — Griffin Canning wiped his brow as he walked back to the mound.

It was only the second inning. The seeing-eye single that slipped through the middle of the infield had allowed the New York Mets to strike first in a game just getting started, but early deficits feel deep gorges these days.

For a change, the San Diego Padres hoisted themselves out of a hole.

A lucky bounce tied the game in the third inning and another in the seventh allowed Freddy Fermin to make up for an earlier misstep as his first homer of the season sent the Padres to Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Mets. The victory halts the Padres’ season-worst six-game skid.

Mired in an 0-for-30 drought, Fermin watched the 99.3 mph drive off his bat clear the wall in left field before pounding the “Padres” across his chest as he jogged up the first base line. It was his first homer since Sept. 16 of last year.

The Padres had a runner on base because Sung-Mun Song notched his second hit of the game, a soft single off the glove of diving reliever Austin Warren.

The Padres tied the game in the third inning when their first hit of the game — via Fernando Tatis Jr. — bounced off second base, allowing Song to score in an inning that looked doomed when Fermin followed a leadoff walk with a bunt popped to the pitcher.

An offense like the Padres’ needs all the breaks it can get.

After all, the Padres entered Saturday ranked last in the big leagues in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS, and they managed just five hits on Saturday.

The Mets’ first run came at the expense of a 29-pitch second inning from Canning. Their second scored in the seventh — a half-inning ahead of Fermin’s go-ahead blast — when Marcus Semien touched rookie Bradgley Rodriguez for the first home run allowed in his career.

The Padres still needed another bounce to go their way in the eighth when Juan Soto lined into an inning-ending double play with two runners on to allow Jason Adam to escape the inning unscathed.

That set up Mason Miller for a scoreless ninth — despite a two-out walk — for his first save since the Padres’ last win on May 29 in Washington.

Canning allowed one run through five innings, his fewest since his Padres debut on May 3 (5 IP, 1 ER). He struck out six, walked two and paid for only one hit, a seeing-eye single that plated a run in the second inning.

That rally began with Semien’s one-out walk. A.J. Ewing followed with a single and Brett Baty’s two-out single past a diving Song gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Outside of a 29-pitch second inning, Canning worked one-two-three innings in three of his five frames, got helped out of the fourth when Fermin threw out a would-be base-stealer and wound up throwing 51 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

The effort lowered his ERA to 6.34.