Good morning from San Francisco,
Mike Shildt is prone to say after a game like last night’s that there were “a lot of heroes.”
And we will get to Robert Suarez and Stephen Kolek and a few others who made the Padres’ first 1-0 extra-inning victory in 19 years happen.
But Jose Iglesias was the hero who stood above all others last night, because of the myriad ways he kept the Padres from losing.
Playing third base in place of Manny Machado, Iglesias denied an RBI in the first inning and final inning and was flawless in between. And after making sure the game didn’t end with a loss in nine innings, he drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.
“What a ballgame by Jose,” Shildt said.
You can read in my game story (here) about what transpired between two struggling offenses.
Iglesias is a capable hitter who puts the ball in play, and that turned out to be all the Padres needed from him at the plate in the 10th inning last night. He finished 1-for-3 and is batting .245 with a .593 OPS in 121 plate appearances this season.
But while he falls short of what Donovan Solano and David Peralta provided so crucially off the bench in 2024, Iglesias has nonetheless cemented himself as a crucial player on this year’s team.
“It’s just a valuable guy for us, right?” Shildt said. “Talk about some depth that gives you some versatility.”
Iglesias was starting for the second straight day. He filled in at shortstop while Xander Bogaerts served as designated hitter Sunday and did the same at third while Machado served as DH yesterday.
“It got Bogey off his feet yesterday … got Manny off his feet today,” Shildt said. “Goes out and you’re not going to miss a beat defensively, which is saying something.”
Iglesias made a half-dozen plays last night, and at least three of them prevented runs.
In the first inning, with a runner at second base, Iglesias dove to his left to stop a hard grounder by Matt Chapman. While his throw from one knee after rolling over was not in time and Chapman got an infield single, it kept the runner from advancing beyond third base. And Stephen Kolek struck out the next batter to end the inning.
In the second inning, with the bases loaded and no outs, Iglesias made two fine plays in a row to end the inning.
The first play involved him running in to field a dribbler on the grass and firing home on the run and around the runner who wisely had taken the inside lane to obstruct Iglesias’ throw.
The second play was sensational for the split-second decision that was required, as well as for the execution.
Iglesias fielded a grounder and, while thinking about going home, turned a fired a perfect throw to second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who threw to first to complete the double play.
“I thought I was gonna go home,” Iglesias said. “But I knew in my internal clock that I had time to turn it. And Croney did a great job turning it as well. So it was great defense all around.”
With a runner on first and one down in the third, Iglesias went to one knee to field a 109 mph grounder by Chapman and fired a perfect leading throw to Cronenworth to start another inning-ending double play.
Then he made two plays in the 10th.
The first was running in to grab a sacrifice bunt on the foul line and throwing to first base for the first out. The ball may have rolled foul, but that was not a risk Iglesias could take.
“No, I was already committed to make it,” he said. “… That was a tough one, too. I got some tough ones tonight.”
The best might have been his last.
The next batter, Chapman, sent a 110 mph grounder down the line that Iglesias backhanded while sliding, then got up and threw to first.
“It looked like he caught it behind him,” Shildt said. “It was unbelievable. The quickness and the ability to catch that baseball.”
OMG pic.twitter.com/EoCapOD1el
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) June 3, 2025
Iglesias, whose talent with the glove has never been questioned and has helped him play 13 big-league seasons, signed a minor-league deal during spring training. By making the team, he was guaranteed $3 million.
He has started for the Padres at second, shortstop and third and even made one start in left field.
The 35-year-old started 22 of the 24 games Cronenworth missed with a fractured rib and was clearly tiring at the end, going 3-for-30 in his final nine starts. Since Cronenworth returned and Iglesias got some rest, he is 8-for-23 with two walks.
“I mean, that’s what I’m here for,” Iglesias said. “Every time Shildt and the organization need me, any position, I’ll be available. I’m ready. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to just wear a Padres uniform. … It’s a privilege.”
The workhorse
Suarez knew when he entered a tie game in the ninth inning what he needed to do to be able to also take down the 10th.
“It was very important for me to do the efficient work,” Suarez said of his throwing just 11 pitches in the ninth.
Indeed, that was what enabled him to pitch a second inning and get his first win of the season.
“It’s not ideal,” Shildt said. “But (it was) really a combination of things. He threw (Sunday), had a little bit of rest prior to that. But the efficiency of the ninth … allows him to go back out. And he was willing to do it. Clearly, we’re not going to do that a lot, and he’ll be down for at least a day. But we take our shots when they’re there. We’re grateful for him to do it.”
Anyone who has been following along since Suarez became the Padres’ closer last season knows it’s all the same to him.
“I have to be prepared for whatever it takes,” he said last night. “When I go in, I’m not ready to come out until they tell me my (appearance) is over.”
The pitcher Shildt calls “El Caballo” as an homage to his being a workhorse last year had seven saves and three wins that required him getting at least four outs, more than any reliever in the major leagues. And in addition to his ranking fourth in the majors with 36 saves, Suarez closed out eight victories by coming in at the start of the ninth inning with the Padres holding a four-run lead.
But he had not gone two full innings since May 8, 2022.
“It was just 20 pitches,” Suarez said. “So I feel very good.”
Still good
Last night was the third time the Giants have been shut out in their past nine games, and they are averaging two runs over their past 15 games.
That doesn’t mean Padres pitchers did not make some clutch pitches last night.
Now, most of the time they put themselves in position to have to do so. But still, they made those pitches when it absolutely mattered.
Kolek got the above-mentioned strikeout in the first inning with runners on the corners. He induced the two ground balls in the second after loading the bases on two walks and a hit batter. He got the double-play grounder in the third after hitting another batter.
The 28-year-old right-hander has shown in his brief time as a major league starter a propensity for fighting through trouble.
“I guess just a lot of ground balls help me,” Kolek said. “… The guys that we have behind me, it’s incredible and gives you all that much more confidence to just challenge them — here it is in the zone and let the defense work. I put myself in trouble whenever I walk guys or hit a batter or something like that. But at the end of the day, I produce a lot of ground balls and trust in my teammates.”
Kolek’s 58.7% groundball rate is tied for fourth-highest in the major leagues among pitchers with at least 35 innings this season. His eight double-play grounders are three more than any other Padres starter despite his ranking fifth in innings pitched.
Last night was the third time in his six starts that Kolek has gone at least 5⅓ innings and allowed no runs.
He was excited for last night’s matchup against the Giants’ Logan Webb, a pitcher Kolek has looked up to for a few years — ever since he developed a sinker and was looking for pitchers to emulate.
“It was fun,” he said. “It was the first time I got to face like a true superstar of a pitcher and a little bit of an idol. … So I was definitely excited to pitch against them. I thought that was pretty cool. Could have done with a little better command. But it was a battle, and it all worked out.”
After Adrián Morejón relieved Kolek with a runner at second base and ended the sixth inning by getting a groundout, he struck out two of the three batters he faced in the seventh but walked the one in between.
Jeremiah Estrada relieved Morejón and walked the first two batters he faced before striking out Jung Hoo Lee with the bases loaded.
“Those two walks hurt,” Estrada said. “Just bad beats. But those were long ABs. Tip my cap to those guys. But I was happy to get in there and punch out Lee to get it done.”
Jason Adam followed by striking out the side around a lead-off single, a two-out walk and a wild pitch in the eighth.
That left the rest to Suarez.
“Mostly, we were able to execute all of our pitches,” Suarez said. “… Just held them at zero runs. It was perfect.”
Last night was the Padres’ 10th shutout victory of the season.
Here is a list of those games and the pitchers who worked them. Notice the starter in the past three.
Nothing doing
Wilmer Flores was clearly tired of pitches from Kolek running inside.
When a 94 mph fastball hit Flores on the hand in the third inning, Flores immediately began shouting at Kolek and held out four fingers and yelled it was the fourth time Kolek had come up and in against the Giants.
Flores yelled off and on for about 20 seconds before making his way slowly to first base, accompanied by Padres catcher Elias Díaz and umpire Ryan Wills.
Wilmer Flores had some words for Padres pitcher Stephen Kolek pic.twitter.com/qXalDzYCNV
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 3, 2025
The umpires then met before issuing warnings to both teams.
Kolek had hit LaMonte Wade Jr. in the hand in the bottom of the second inning, and Wade was replaced defensively in the top of the third. And Webb hit Díaz in the third.
“The command wasn’t the best today,” Kolek said. “I’ve been working on a little thing with my sinker, trying (a new) arm slot with that. Don’t know if it was maybe that adjustment or the weather and the environment here. My two-seamer seemed to be running a lot more today, had a lot more arm-side (run) and (was) getting in on those righties a little bit more than normal.
“But I’m not trying to hurt anybody out there. It’s the last thing I want to do. I always say a prayer before the game. And part of it is that, like, keep all the players healthy. I’m not trying to hurt anybody there, but it’s also part of the game plan to pitch in — and pitch up and in — to keep those guys off of that down and away. Unfortunately, caught a couple of hands today. Hoping they’re gonna be OK. It’s not intentional, just part of the game.”
Here is a screenshot from the Padres TV broadcast that shows some guys who were clearly ready to have Kolek’s back as Flores was jawing:
The search
It takes two kinds of capital to be a successful buyer at the trade deadline.
The Padres have enough of one of those. They might not have enough of the other.
They have been looking for a left fielder since spring training and have ramped up their efforts in recent weeks.
They are looking for one that can hit and is affordable.
Regarding the second requirement, though, people familiar with the Padres’ situation, say money is not the primary challenge. The team is willing to add a few million to the payroll.
But while it is perilous to bet against a motivated A.J. Preller finding a way, the Padres simply might not have the prospect capital to line up with another team on a trade that makes them appreciably better.
It is virtually certain the Padres will add to their offense. That has been the case since before Gavin Sheets ran into the left field wall on Sunday.
The Athletic reported yesterday that the Padres are interested in Jarren Duran of the Red Sox. Indeed. They have been enamored with him for some time – spring training of 2024, the trade deadline of 2024, spring training this year.
The approximately $2.4 million Duran is due for the rest of this season only makes him more enticing.
But the price in of minor league talent for Duran, an All-Star in 2024 who has a career .772 OPS and is under team control the next 3½ seasons, is thought by many to be beyond what the Padres have on hand after years of trades to make the major league team better.
The Padres do have some well-thought-of pitcher in the lower levels of the minors that a trade partner could bet on.
However, another challenge Preller and his staff face is that the Padres are suddenly in a position where their starting rotation has taken some hits and could require bolstering via trade.
That is a wait-and-see situation.
But they do seem primed to make a move for a left fielder sooner than later.
If they can.
Speaking of LF
Jason Heyward is eligible to come off the injured list today.
But he will not.
“I feel like things are evolving pretty well,” Heyward said. “Progressing nicely. But obliques can be annoying. You get hot and you still wake up sore. … I’m taking it careful.”
Heyward started taking batting practice on the field Saturday and has been catching fly balls and lightly throwing but said he has yet to do either with “full intensity.”
Also, you can read in my notebook (here) from yesterday about Sheets’ recovery and what he said about Sunday’s collision. Sheets grounded out as a pinch-hitter last night. It seems likely he will serve as the Padres’ designated hitter tonight.
What?!
Often, there is some angle available to the umpire(s) working in MLB’s replay center that we aren’t privy to.
But it is virtually impossible to conceive of an angle that could justify the ruling last night that affirmed a safe call on an attempted pickoff of Willy Adames by Díaz in the second inning.
“Incredible,” Jake Cronenworth said.
For over a century — before replay — the safe call on Adames would have been considered the correct one. He appeared to beat the throw. But then his foot clearly came off the bag while Bogaerts kept his glove on Adames’ midsection.
an even clearer screenshot. pic.twitter.com/gH0TAOVOKP
— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) June 3, 2025
“I just walked away and took a deep breath,” Shildt said. “Because you can’t argue … replay. And, you know, it doesn’t do any good to yell at the crew on the field.”
One of Kolek’s double plays ended the inning.
Tidbits
- Last night was the 15th 1-0, extra-inning victory in Padres history and their first since they beat the Cubs in 11 innings on May 5, 2006 at Petco Park. It was the first such game in the major leagues since the Braves beat the Giants on Aug. 12, 2024.
- The Padres’ 20 victories by one run this season are tied with the Mets for most in MLB, and their .667 winning percentage (20-10) in one-run games is second to the Guardians (18-7, .720).
- The Padres’ three hard-hit balls (95 mph or harder) last night were their fewest in a game since they had two on Sept. 19, 2023, against the Rockies.
- The Padres have won their past two extra-inning game after losing their first three this season.
- Bogaerts’ double in the first inning was his first extra-base hit in 16 games.
- Luis Arraez’s double was his fourth in six games.
- Jackson Merrill was 1-for-4 last night and has hit in eight of his past nine games. He is batting .303 (10-for-33) with four doubles and a home run in that span, which follows a stretch in which he went 4-for-35 with four singles.
- The Padres are 8-1 against division opponents — 3-0 against the Giants and 5-1 against the Rockies.
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.
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