Wild ricochet leads to inside-the-park homer
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SAN DIEGO -- Jake Cronenworth missed out on a home-run trot by about a foot. So he settled instead for an all-out home-run sprint.
In the sixth inning of the Padres' 3-0 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday afternoon, Cronenworth launched a Chi Chi Gonz¨˘lez fastball off the top of the wall in right field at Petco Park. When the ball caromed away from Colorado outfielder Charlie Blackmon, Cronenworth was off to the races.
He paused briefly at third base, before turning on the jets one more time, and he cruised into home plate standing up to record the first inside-the-park home run at Petco Park in 11 years and give San Diego a 2-0 lead.
? Fernando Tatis Jr. homers in return to lineup
Tony Gwynn Jr. (on hand Wednesday in his usual role as analyst for the team's radio broadcast) was the last player to do so, on July 17, 2010. It was the first inside-the-parker by a Padre since Everth Cabrera's in Milwaukee in 2012.
Cronenworth made it around the bases in 15.5 seconds with a 28.7 sprint speed, according to Statcast.
"We look up and see Jake going and see [third base coach Bobby Dickerson] sending him the whole time," said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. "He just kept going. ... That was a huge run at the time."
Lately, Cronenworth has been red-hot. He's hitting .369 in May and has been one of the biggest reasons that the Padres have continued their winning ways, even with a handful of their regulars on the IL due to COVID-19 issues.
Two more of those regulars -- Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Hosmer -- returned to the Padres lineup on Wednesday. But Cronenworth remained in the No. 3 spot in the lineup -- and he just kept on hitting.
Sounds like he might stay there a while. The Padres had lately fallen into a regular lineup featuring Trent Grisham, Manny Machado and Cronenworth in the first three spots. That group thrived -- so much so that when Tatis returned, he batted cleanup for the first time in his career.
"We're going to go with what's working," Tingler said. "I love the idea of being lefty-righty-lefty-righty and being able to do some things. ... We'll see how it goes, but I kind of like the look of that right now."