Padres Daily: Cronenworth, the hero that was and is

Good morning,

There were two distinct portions of the Padres’ 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros yesterday.

There was the portion where Chris Paddack pitched like he never had before and the portion where Jake Cronenworth did what he has done before.

Both are covered in my game story (here). And I broke down Paddack’s strangely efficient start in a separate story as well (here).

Let’s talk some more about the Padres’ hero that has been and is again.

Cronenworth’s home run gave the Padres the walk-off victory. This was surprising only in that he entered yesterday with four hits in his previous 40 at-bats and by shortly after 4 p.m. was concerned mostly about his batting gloves and trying to wash out his mouth.

Cronenworth’s thoughts are always the same as he enters a walk-off celebration:

“Hopefully they don’t get my batting gloves wet, and please don’t throw something at my face.”

His gloves stayed dry.

“But they shot baby powder in my mouth,” Cronenworth said.

It kind of seems the foul is on him on that one.

As for the gloves, it’s not like he has only one pair. But he’s particular about them.

“It takes a while to break them in for me,” he said. “I don’t like going up to an at-bat with a brand new pair.”

The Padres want and need Cronenworth comfortable at the plate.

He has arguably been their most consistent hitter this season. Only Fernando Tatis Jr. has been steadier, but Tatis has spent 30 games on the injured list and Cronenworth has started 129 of the Padres’ 137 games.

Before his recent slump, Cronenworth was second on the team in batting average (.279) and was tied with Tommy Pham for the second-highest on-base percentage (.350) and tied with Manny Machado for the second-highest slugging percentage (.490). The leader in all three categories was and is Tatis. But Cronenworth has made 125 more plate appearances than Tatis.

Cronenworth’s 28 doubles and six triples lead the team. His 234 total bases are third on the team behind Tatis (245) and Machado (235) and outpace fourth-place Eric Hosmer by 60.

“He’s just been so steady and consistent, and he’s done really well in these big moments,” manager Jayce Tingler said.

While none had been as dramatic as Sunday’s, Cronenworth does have a team-high 12 game-winning RBIs.

This was his first career walk-off homer and second walk-off hit. The other was last August against the Texas Rangers. Cronenworth also tied a game Aug. 21 against the Phillies by hitting a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning.

“You always want to get the big hit when you come up in that spot,” he said. “So your heart might be racing a little more. You’ve just got to take a couple deep breaths and relax and just try to have a quality at-bat.”

Here is video of Cronenworth and Paddack talking about the victory.

Tidbits

• Craig Stammen, Emilio Pagán and Mark Melancon threw a scoreless inning apiece yesterday. This came after the bullpen turned in 3 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday. This is the first time Padres relievers have put together successive scoreless outings that long since they did it in three straight games from July 31 to Aug. 3. The bullpen’s ERA on Aug. 3 was an MLB-best 2.87. It is now 3.21, which ranks fourth.

• Stammen’s scoreless inning ran his streak to 11 innings without allowing a run over his past eight appearances.

• Machado extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single. This is his second streak that long this season. He is batting .342 (13-for-38) with four doubles and two homers over the nine games.

• Hosmer’s first-inning double, which drove in two runs, was his fourth extra-base hit in six games. Hosmer was 2-for-2. His 27 multi-hit games are fourth most on the team behind Cronenworth (36), Machado (35) and Tatis (30).

• Tommy Pham is 8-for-21 as a pinch-hitter this season after a pinch single in the eighth inning.

• Melancon’s three walks tied a season high, also set against Houston (May 28).

• Bryce Miller wrote a column about a topic many have been talking about — Tatis’ move to right field. Here it is.

All right, that’s it for me today.

Enjoy your holiday. Talk to you Wednesday.