The San Diego Padres only have eight games left in the season, but they’re finally showing some signs of life and swagger.
The Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night for their eighth straight win, which improved their record to 76-78. Manny Machado was the big bopper in the game for the Padres. He went 4/4 with two home runs and three RBIs.
Machado clubbed a tie-breaking solo home run in the sixth and a tie-breaking 2-run home run in the eighth.
After the game, the Padres third baseman was interviewed and tried to fire up the fans at Petco Park.
“I’ll leave you guys with this,” Machado said. “Let’s f—ing go, San Diego!”
Machado yelled out his message and did not censor the profanity.
Manny Machado with the F bomb pic.twitter.com/10D0NBr6IB
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 23, 2023
Machado was the center of a negative report about the Padres last week that tried to decipher why the team disappointed this season amid huge expectations. Perhaps a combination of expectations finally being lowered and Machado feeling like he has something to prove has lit a fire under the team.
San Diego has a very cooperative schedule to end the season. They’ve had series against the A’s, Rockies, Cardinals, and they will face the Giants and White Sox. None of those teams have a winning record, and three are last in their division. Winning 16 in a row might not be realistic, but the Padres certainly have a good shot at continuing to finish the season strong.
