San Diego Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts, right, celebrates with teammate first baseman Jake Cronenworth after the Padres defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 in a baseball game on April 21 in San Diego.Gregory Bull/The Associated Press
Joe Musgrove pitched seven innings for the first time since July 4 and Xander Bogaerts homered for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Musgrove improved to 4-0 against the Blue Jays, who picked him in the first round of the 2011 draft. The big right-hander from suburban El Cajon allowed solo homers to Davis Schneider and Ernie Clement but otherwise pitched well enough to improve to 3-2. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out three, with no walks.
“I don’t ever want to lose, but I feel like there is some kind of edge there, against the team that drafted me,” Musgrove said. “I was excited to be with them and wanted to make my debut with that team and didn’t get a chance to.
“I wanted to be good today for these guys more so than I wanted to beat them.”
Musgrove was traded to Houston in 2012 and made his big-league debut against Toronto on Aug. 2, 2016.
The Padres snapped a three-game losing streak and prevented the Blue Jays from clinching their first sweep of the season.
Musgrove was backed by some nice defensive plays, including two impressive catches by right-fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis won the Gold Glove Award last year in his first season in right field and then won the NL Platinum Glove Award as the best overall defensive player.
Tatis made a brilliant running, leaping catch of George Springer’s fly ball to the gap to end the eighth. In the second, he made a running, sliding catch of a long foul ball by Daulton Varsho.
“Routine greatness,” manager Mike Shildt said.
“It’s part of the work. That’s why we keep working hard. We don’t take it for granted,” Tatis said. “When you’re in the game no matter what, you’re trying to play defence for that pitcher on the mound.”
The dreadlocked Dominican has been nicknamed “Air Tatis” for his leaping, twisting catches.
“It’s amazing. It’s an adrenalin rush that you cannot really put into words. Those little moments make all the hard work pay off,” Tatis said.
“Really good,” Musgrove said of Tatis. “Just really good defensive plays all around today. Turned the double plays we should turn, the sliding catch down the line, the catch in the gap, just really good defence.”
Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
Bogaerts, who has struggled since signing as a free agent before the 2023 season, homered off Chris Bassitt (2-3) leading off the third to tie the game at 2. His only other homer this year was April 9 against the Chicago Cubs. He had gone eight games without an extra-base hit.
Bogaerts drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth and Tatis followed with a sacrifice fly.
Shildt said Bogaerts seems to be pulling out of his struggles.
“He’s pretty much there,” the manager said.
The Padres jumped ahead 4-2 in the sixth when they loaded the bases against Bassitt and reliever Trevor Richards, and then scored on a bases-loaded walk by Luis Campusano and a catcher’s interference call that put Tyler Wade on base.
Justin Turner was hit by a pitch with an out in the seventh and Varsho grounded sharply down the right field line, which a ball girl picked up, apparently not realizing it was fair. That put Turner on third and Varsho on second. Turner scored on Schneider’s groundout and Musgrove retired Danny Jansen.
Schneider homered to left centre with two outs in the second, his third, to tie the game 1-1. It came one batter after Tatis’ catch of Varsho’s foul ball.
Clement led off the third by sending a fastball that was well above the strike zone into the second-floor balcony on the four-storey brick warehouse in the left field corner for a 2-1 lead.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead in a sloppy first inning for both teams. Jake Cronenworth singled with two outs and scored on right-fielder Springer’s two-base error for misplaying Manny Machado’s single. Jurickson Profar walked and stole second but was picked off by Bassitt.
Bassitt allowed four runs, two earned, and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked three.