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The San Diego Padres brought the heat and lit up the Kansas City Royals with their 13-5 win at Kauffman Stadium. With the Padres' victory, they pushed their record to 69-58 and temporarily claimed the final National League Wild Card spot.
Ha-Seong Kim had a stellar night for the Friars. The South Korean superstar went 3-for-6 with a two-run home run and a double to finish the night with five RBIs.
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Kim is batting .259 with an OPS of .722 this season. The Padres also brought out their bats as they ended the game with a double-digit score for the first time since August 10.
Jurickson Profar, Josh Bell, Will Myers, Jake Cronenworth, and Austin Nola all drove in, at least, one run for the Padres in tonight's game.
Joe Musgrove had a shaky start. He was pulled out after just 3.2 innings after issuing two earned runs. The San Diego Padres' pitching staff, however, picked up the slack as the bullpen didn't surrender any more runs on the way to the 13-5 victory.
The 69th win for the Padres is crucial and cannot be understated as they are behind the division-leading Dodgers, which has 87 wins already. The Friars are behind the Blue Crew by 19.5 games. The only realistic chance they have is through the National League Wild Card race.
San Diego Padres claim the NL Wild Card spot; Kansas City Royals fans troll their team
If there was a team that made its intentions clear during the trade deadline, it was the San Diego Padres. Hauling in Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals was a clear indication of the San Diego Padres' aspirations for a world title.
But actions will always speak louder than words. Despite the recent boost in talent, the Padres have only won four of their last ten games. It shouldn't be an issue right now. Given that they are in one of the most competitive divisions, it will eventually be.
Their opponents in this series, meanwhile, have taken a different approach to the season and have expressed their desire to rebuild. The Kansas City Royals sport a 51-76 record and are currently fourth in the American League Central.
They offloaded superstar Andrew Benintendi to the New York Yankees and Whit Merrifield to the Toronto Blue Jays during deadline day.
The team was utterly lit up from the get-go as starter Kris Bubic gave up six earned runs. Amir Garrett gave up four of his own. The whole team just looked dazed against the Padres' hot bats tonight. Over the weekend, the teams will meet again for two more games to finish the three-game interleague series.
