Gibson
By WARREN MAYES
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Manny Machado homered and drove in three runs, rookie Jackson Merrill also had three RBIs and the San Diego Padres defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
“We have fun every day,” Merrill said. “We play hard. If you win you win, if you lose, you lose. We’re not going to look back on the previous day. We’re here to win games.”
Rookie starter Randy Vásquez (4-6) went six innings for the victory, allowing two runs and six hits.
“Whenever I’m needed, I pitch,” Vásquez said through a translator. “I’ve been eating innings, so that’s good. The results have been coming my way. Everything is pretty good.”
Greenfield’s Kyle Gibson (7-6) gave up seven runs on six hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
“They have a good hitting team,” Gibson said. “Command was definitely an issue. They did a good job putting the bat on the ball.”
Machado slammed a cutter 420 feet to center field with two outs in the first, after Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch.
Merrill’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the third put the Padres up 4-1. It was the rookie’s fourth bases-loaded hit this year, tying a San Diego record for players in their first season.
San Diego chased Gibson in the fifth and scored three more runs for a 7-2 lead. Machado doubled home Jurickson Profar, who led off with a walk and advanced on a single by Cronenworth. A sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts scored Cronenworth and brought in reliever Matthew Liberatore. Merrill singled home the final run of the inning.
Gibson’s next scheduled start is Saturday against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Marcus Stroman is the scheduled starter for New York. Game time is 1:05 p.m.
