Padres News: Manny Machado opens up on emotions behind Memorial Day

Memorial Day has a special value in America's Finest City, San Diego. Padres All-Star Manny Machado opened up about the poignant day ahead of his team's contest against the Miami Marlins on Monday.

While San Diego is regarded as a major military hub, Machado never played a game at Petco Park on the special occasion. He highlighted the importance of playing his first game in San Diego on Memorial Day in an interview with Marty Caswell of MartyTimeTV.

"It's the first time I think I played here on the day, actually; so I think today's gonna be special. I mean, obviously, it's a special weekend. We know how big our military town is here. We know what most people go through, families, the ones who have bought it, taking that courage to help us be here today and to live a great life that we live in a great country.

"I don't even know how today's gonna be. It's gonna be very special for everyone in this stadium. It's definitely special for all of us in this clubhouse. It's definitely one you want to remember."

Manny Machado comes up clutch for Padres on Memorial Day

Manny Machado was instrumental in the team's series win against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. The All-Star slugger continued his hot form as he hit a game-tying solo home run on Monday, helping the Padres to a come-from-behind win against the Marlins.

“Great victory for us,” Machado said. “We battled back. Hell of a job by Vasquez starting off the game how he did, then settling in and dominating after that and giving us the chance to go out there and turn some momentum to us. Bullpen came in, was lights out. We grinded, had some good at-bats.”

Following Machado's game-tying home run, which sent the series opener into extra innings, the Padres walked it off after a wild pitch by Marlins reliever Cade Gibson in the 11th inning.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash