Tommy Pham led off the game with a home run and Austin Nola collected a career-high-tying four hits as the visiting San Diego Padres opened a two-game interleague series against the Oakland Athletics with an 8-1 victory on Tuesday.
Pham, Manny Machado and Trent Grishman contributed two hits apiece to a 14-hit attack for the Padres, who beat the A’s for the second time in three meetings this season.
The clubs cap their four-game season series with an afternoon affair on Wednesday.
Rays left-hander Blake Snell (5-4) worked five effective innings, allowing just one run. He gave up six hits and three walks while striking out six.
Pham’s homer, his 12th of the season, came at the end of a nine-pitch, game-opening duel with Oakland starter Sean Manaea (8-7). The homer was Pham’s seventh in the first inning this season, his second when leading off a game.
Pham also drove in a run with a second-inning single, as did both Jake Marisnick and Jake Cronenworth as San Diego opened a quick 4-0 advantage.
San Diego knocked Manaea from the game in a two-run top of the fifth, with both runs coming on a two-out double by Nola off A’s reliever Deolis Guerra.
Just one of the two runs was charged to Manaea, who finished the night having yielded five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Oakland got a fifth-inning homer by Starling Marte, his eighth long ball of the season, closing the gap to 6-1.
The Padres tacked on in the seventh on a two-run single by Grisham.
Pham, Nola and Grishman notched two RBIs apiece while Machado scored twice for the Padres, who won their second straight.
Marte accounted for three of Oakland’s seven hits, including a double and a single to complement his first homer in five games since joining the A’s last week. Ramon Laureano had two doubles.
–Field Level Media