Jurickson Profar hit a home run for the second game in a row, Kyle Higashioka also homered, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Washington Nationals 12-3 on Wednesday night.
Jackson Merrill nearly hit for the cycle and matched his career high with four hits for San Diego, which has now won four consecutive games. Xander Bogaerts also contributed with a season-high four hits as the Padres totaled a season-best 20 hits.
This was the Padres’ highest scoring game since their 13-1 victory over Arizona on June 8.
“It was really enjoyable to watch,” commented San Diego starting pitcher Matt Waldron. “I was just in the dugout admiring how powerful our offense was. Their pitcher was throwing really hard with great stuff, so I’m impressed with how our team handled it. They were relentless.”
Juan Yepez homered to extend his hitting streak to 15 games for Washington, which remains winless in five games against the Padres this season. This game marked the most runs the Nationals have allowed since a 12-3 loss to Philadelphia on August 19 last year.
The Padres overwhelmed Washington’s rookie pitcher Mitchell Parker (5-6), who had his second consecutive shortened start.
Luis Arraez contributed with a two-out, two-run single in the second inning, and Profar followed with his 16th home run of the season.
San Diego added two more runs in the third inning when Higashioka hit an RBI double to left field and Merrill scored on Bryce Johnson’s squeeze bunt.
Parker struggled, allowing six runs and seven hits with three walks over three innings. He struck out five batters. This outing followed his previous start on July 13 against Milwaukee, where he gave up five runs in two-thirds of an inning. His ERA has risen from 3.44 to 4.34 over these last two starts.
