Randy Vásquez is sharp, Padres jump on Diamondbacks early in 9-4 win

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Aug 5, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Before the pitchers they brought in to save the season get to work, the Padres got a lift from someone who has been around all along.

Randy Vásquez, whose season began so strong but who had recently been banished to the bullpen, worked six scoreless innings Tuesday in a 9-4 victory over the Diamondbacks.

The victory got the Padres back to within a game of Arizona in the National League wild-card chase, and it probably got Vásquez strong closer to a return to the starting rotation.

The 24-year-old right-hander turned in the first quality start by a Padres pitcher since July 22 and the first by a pitcher other than Michael King since Walker Buehler allowed one run in six innings on June 3.

Helping make the whole thing smoother was Manny Machado driving in four runs with three hits. Jackson Merrill also had three hits and drove in two runs and scored two.

Vásquez was able to throw strikes and essentially play goalie when he was given a 3-0 lead before he took the mound and 6-0 lead before he did so a second time. The Padres increased their lead to eight runs with a run in the sixth and another in the seventh.

That is when Padres manager Craig Stammen turned the game over to pitcher Germán Márquez, who allowed a pair of two-run homers in the seventh before Bradgley Rodriguez and Griffin Canning worked an inning apiece to finish the game.

Vásquez had been a component of the Padres’ pitching mishmash over the previous two weeks, allowing three runs in 11 innings in his four games before Tuesday.

The team’s attempt to piece together nine innings at a time on days King or Buehler weren’t starting was a means to getting to Monday’s trade deadline.

On Monday, they acquired Robbie Ray from the Giants and Casey Mize from the Tigers. Mize will start Wednesday against the Diamondbacks and Ray on Friday at home against the Astros.

Any pitcher would love to get the support Vásquez did on Tuesday.

More of that is what the Padres need as well.

Unable (and unwilling) to accomplish their secondary aim of adding a left-handed bat on Monday, the Padres are riding with the offense that got them this far.

It has been a much better group for going on two months.

The Padres entered Tuesday having hit .261 with a .339 on-base percentage over their previous 49 games dating to June 8. In that time, their average of 4.7 runs a game ranked 11th. That compares with them ranking 30th out of 30 in virtually every offensive category in the 64 games before that.

Tuesday was the 20th time in 50 games they scored at least six runs. They had done so 16 times before that.

But it has been a long time since they were as good as early in a game.

Tuesday was the first time since Aug. 23, 2024, that a Padres team had at least eight hits in the first two innings of a game.

They entered Tuesday having scored the fourth-fewest runs in the major leagues in the first two innings of games.

Fernando Tatis Jr. got them started Tuesday when he sent Eduardo Rodriguez’s third pitch of the game at 106 mph bouncing past third baseman Nolan Arenado and down the left field line for a double.

Machado’s double drove in his first run, and two-out singles by Merrill and Xander Bogaerts made it 3-0.

Jake Cronenworth and Jase Bowen began the second inning with singles before grounder by Tatis erased Cronenworth and Luis Rengifo appeared to have at least made the second out and possibly ended the inning with his grounder.

But second baseman Ketel Marte bobbled the ball, which loaded the bases for Machado to drive in two more runs with a single. Merrill singled with two outs to get Machado home.

Rodriguez (10-4, 2.71) had thrown 56 pitches to that point and was at 92 when he went out for the sixth inning, which he almost finished.

But two-out Singles by Rengifo and Machado, with a stolen base in between, ended his night and increased the Padres’ lead to 7-0.

Merrill’s single, a walk by Bogaerts and double by Freddy Fermin brought in another run in the seventh.

Two-run homers by Arenado and James McCann got the Diamondbacks to 8-4. And after as Bradgley Rodriguez hurriedly warmed up in the bullpen after a single by Ryan Waldschmidt, pitching coach Ruben Niebla visited the mound before leadoff batter Corbin Carroll stepped in to face Márquez and grounded out to end the inning.

The Padres’ final run came in the ninth when Jake Cronenworth’s third single drove in Sung-Mun Song, who had walked and advanced to second on a single by Fermin.

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