Jake Cronenworth powers Padres to win over Diamondbacks

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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 7: Jake Cronenworth #9 of the San Diego Padres hits a home run first inning during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 7, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images

San Diego Padres fans would be forgiven if they saw the top of the first inning between the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night and thought, “Here we go again.” Starter German Marquez was in a bases loaded jam after a leadoff double, a fielding error and a walk allowed the first three batters to reach safely. Marquez induced a ground ball to third baseman Manny Machado who threw to Luis Campusano at home plate to get the force out and keep the Diamondbacks off the scoreboard. That success was followed by a one-out walk to Max Kepler which gave Arizona a 1-0 lead over San Diego. Marquez escaped the jam without any additional damage when he got Nolan Arenado to lineout to Sung-Mun Song at second base who raced to the bag to double off the runner for the unassisted double play to end the inning.

Once again, the Padres found themselves trailing before they even sent their first batter to the plate, but unlike the series opener on Monday, the San Diego offense jumped all over Arizona starter Zac Gallen. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a leadoff double and scored one batter later when Jackson Merrill hit a liner into right field for an RBI-single to tie the game, 1-1. The Padres weren’t done there. Gavin Sheets drew a two-out walk after Merrill stole second base, to put runners at first and second. Jake Cronenworth then hit a 1-2 fastball into the right field bleachers to put San Diego ahead 4-1. If you missed that inning, you basically missed the game because Mason Miller came in for the top of the ninth and locked down the 4-1 win and earned his 23rd save of the season.

Marquez was the story of the night for the Padres outside of the Cronenworth home run. The right-hander, who recently returned from the injured list, completed five innings after a shaky start and allowed one run on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The bullpen took down the remaining four innings with Yuki Matsui pitching 0.1 of an inning. Jhony Brito completed 1.2 innings and Bradgley Rodriguez pitched a scoreless eighth before Miller came on for the ninth.

San Diego will try to win their second consecutive game today at 7:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• It been a rough week for the Padres and from ugly losses to injuries, Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball tells you all about it.

• Alek Jacob pitched multiple relief innings on Monday and was sent back down to Triple-A on Tuesday to make room for Jhony Brito on the roster.

Baseball News:

• Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run, but the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Colorado Rockies.

• Ryan O’Hearn hit three home runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a dominant win over the Atlanta Braves.

• Tarik Skubal delivered another solid start to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 win.

• Zack Wheeler struck out 14 Cincinnati Reds hitters to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a win.

• The Toronto Blue Jays beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-3.

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