SAN DIEGO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched six strong innings on the night his boyhood hero, Jake Peavy, was inducted into the Padres' Hall of Fame, Fernando Tatis Jr. homered and San Diego beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 7-1 on Friday night.
Musgrove (10-3) was facing the Rangers for the first time since throwing the first no-hitter in Padres history, in just his second start with his hometown team, on April 9, 2021, at Texas. Musgrove won for the ninth time in 10 decisions by holding Texas to four hits while striking out five and walking two.
Musgrove grew up a Padres fan in suburban El Cajon and idolized Peavy, who won the 2007 NL Cy Young Award. Musgrove began wearing Peavy's No. 44 after he was traded to the Padres before the 2021 season.
The Rangers, managed by former Padres skipper Bruce Bochy, lost for the fifth time in seven games but kept a two-game lead over Houston.
The Rangers added a bit of drama when they loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth and Luis Garcia walked Marcus Semien. Garcia then struck out former Padres player Travis Jankowski to end it.
Tatis homered to right-center off Dane Dunning (8-4) with one out in the fifth, his 18th, to give the Padres a 3-0 lead. He added an RBI single during the four-run sixth.
The Padres, who have underwhelmed despite having baseball's third-highest payroll, also got RBIs from two of their other stars, Juan Soto and Manny Machado. Soto hit an RBI single in the first and Machado had a sacrifice fly in the third and a two-run single in the sixth. Gary Sanchez added an RBI double in the sixth.
NICE PLAY
Machado made a sensational play at third to end the seventh when he dove to his left to snag Leody Taveras' grounder and threw him out while on his backside. First baseman Jake Cronenworth held onto the throw and then fell over.
HALL OF FAME
Peavy was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame along with former owner John Moores during a pregame ceremony. It was under Moores' ownership that the Padres built Petco Park in downtown San Diego.
RANGERS PROSPECTS
Wyatt Langford, the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, made his professional debut Friday night with the ACL Rangers in a game at the ACL Mariners in Peoria, Arizona. He started in left and batted third. Others making their debuts in that game were 1B Anthony Calarco (undrafted free agent), 2B Devin Hurdle (undrafted free agent) and RF Quincy Scott (ninth round).
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: Placed All-Star C Jonah Heim on the 10-day injured list with a strained tendon in his left wrist. He came out of a game at Houston on Wednesday after hurting his wrist on an awkward swing in the fourth inning. Mitch Garver started Friday night.
UP NEXT
Texas LHP Martin Perez (8-3, 4.91 ERA) and Padres RHP Yu Darvish (7-7, 4.80) are scheduled to start Saturday night.
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