Padres hit, bunt way to victory over Reds in series opener

Things came together in one inning about as well as they have in a month for the Padres.

They scored just two runs to flip a one-run deficit into a one-run lead in the seventh inning Monday night, and their fun ended with a whimper. But they got big hits and executed small ball.

And a team that had lost 11 of 13 and scored three runs just three times in that span was thrilled to do so much right and get a little help from the Reds doing things wrong.

The Padres came back and then added on en route to a 6-2 victory in a way they have not done much lately or, really, much at all.

The first of their two runs in the seventh came on back-to-back doubles by Xander Bogaerts and Gavin Sheets, which tied the game and ended Reds starter Andrew Abbott's night.

Jace Bowen then laid down a bunt that would have been a sacrifice, getting Sheets to third base, had pitcher Tejay Antone and third baseman Eugenio Suarez not both sort of hesitated and then collided as Antone fielded the ball.

With runners on the corners, Samad Taylor then laid down a bunt to the right side that first baseman Sal Stewart charged and tried to barehand but couldn't. That brought in Sheets with the go-ahead run.

Freddy Fermin, who earlier in the game homered to give the Padres a 1-0 lead, followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt that Antone simply bobbled and never made a throw on, loading the bases.

Petco Park, which had gotten as loud as it had been in some time, quieted quickly.

The inning ended abruptly on a pop-up by Fernando Tatis Jr., a check-swing grounder by Jackson Merrill that resulted in an out at home and a groundout by Ty France.

But the Padres had the lead again.

And Jason Adam and Mason Miller worked an inning apiece to close out the Padres' second victory in three games.

The three bunts in the seventh inning upped the team's season total of bunts put in play to 16. The two bunt singles doubled the Padres season total. Fermin's sacrifice gave the Padres seven in 2026.

Sheets' RBI double sliced down the left field line was the Padres' ninth hit in 67 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

So count it as an outburst.

Same with what the Padres did in the eighth inning when Bogaerts singled with one out, Bowen singled with two outs and stole second, Taylor drove both in with a single and Fermin drove in Taylor with a single that made it 6-2.

Fermin has now driven in seven of the 12 runs the Padres have scored in their past three games.

His home run in the third inning made him the first Padres player to homer in three straight games this season and gave them a lead for just the fifth game in their past 13.

Fermin was also involved in two plays that helped Padres starter Walker Buehler, who struggled with command throughout his truncated outing.

He escaped unscathed in the second inning after allowing a pair of one-out singles that put runners at the corners when Taylor caught a fly ball in left field and threw out Matt McLain trying to score.

The right-hander left two runners on in the first inning and stranded a runner at second in the fourth.

He would not get out of the fifth despite some help at the end of a long strikeout.

After Edwin Arroyo led off the inning with a single, Dunn fouled off five consecutive full-count pitches before striking out on the 11th pitch from Buehler and then stepping across the plate in front of Fermin, who made contact with him while throwing down to second base to try to get Arroyo stealing. Fermin's throw sailed into center field, but Arroyo was called out due to batter's interference.

But five pitches is all it took to go from two outs and no one to 1-1, as JJ Bleday bounced a double over the wall in right-center field and Sal Stewart bounced an RBI single up the middle.

A single by Nathaniel Lowe followed, and Buehler was replaced by Bradgley Rodriguez.

Rodriguez ended the inning with a line out but was charged with the Reds' go-ahead run in the next inning on a single, a stolen base and two fly ball outs.

The second of the fly balls was a sacrifice by Arroyo off Adrian Morejón, who then pitched a scoreless seventh before the Padres turned the game around.

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