Purpose? Machado, Padres have it, even before stray pitch

SAN DIEGO -- Moments after Juan Soto’s seventh-inning moonshot whipped Petco Park into a frenzy on Tuesday night, Pirates reliever Angel Perdomo poured fuel on those flames with a 98 mph fastball to the back of Manny Machado.

The Padres’ superstar third baseman, perhaps the sport’s hottest hitter at the moment, glared back at Perdomo while walking slowly toward first base, bat in tow. The umpires, after a brief conference, ejected Perdomo and then Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton, when he emerged to argue.

The Padres didn’t get mad. They got even.

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Cooler heads prevailed. The Padres’ most emphatic response to Perdomo’s hit by pitch was this: a decisive 5-1 victory and a crucial bounce-back win after they dropped the series opener Monday.

“We won the game,” Machado said. “I think that's the most important part.”

That doesn’t mean Machado enjoyed taking a 98 mph fastball to the back, with what he implied was a purpose pitch.

“I guess people don't respect people anymore, I guess that's what's changed,” Machado said. “Three hundred [home runs] in The Show, 10 years plus. But it is what it is. Ain't no worry. We got the win, which is the most important part, and nothing was broken. So we're good.”

Both Perdomo and Shelton pushed back on the notion the pitch was intentional.

“I gave all my best to Soto, all my pitches,” said Perdomo. “He got the home run against me, and then against Machado, I just tried to come in and went too far in and hit him by mistake.”

Added Shelton: “Ball just got away from him; it hit him. The umpires got together, which they’re supposed to do. After they got together, they decided on an ejection.”

And that was that. An irked Machado chatted with Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana, the situation defused with the departure of Perdomo.

In any case, the Padres led by two runs in the seventh inning of a game that was crucial for their postseason hopes -- and for their push to set themselves up as buyers at the Trade Deadline. They couldn’t afford any extracurriculars.

“I guess I'm maturing a little bit in some way, shape or form,” Machado said. “Catch me a couple years before, may still be out there.”

Said Padres manager Bob Melvin: “The last thing we want is some guys getting thrown out or a situation where somebody gets suspended. Unfortunately, it happened. You really don’t know what to make of it based on [Perdomo] missing by that far, right after a home run. But we’ll move on.”

Easier to do, considering the Padres’ on-field response to Machado’s plunking. Robert Suarez worked a 1-2-3 eighth. Gary Sánchez launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame, doubling the lead. Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Padres’ two-game losing streak was over.

“The one thing we have done well is played well when it looks like we’re in dire need of a good game,” Melvin said.

Starter Blake Snell pitched six innings of one-run ball despite allowing five walks, as he lowered his Major League-best ERA to 2.61. Meanwhile, Machado continued his torrid stretch by launching his 20th homer of the season – and his 11th in July. Only Ken Caminiti in August of 1996 and Greg Vaughn in May of ’98 hit more homers in a single month in franchise history.

Defensively, the Padres’ stars shined all night. In the top of the first, Fernando Tatis Jr. made a leaping catch while colliding with the right-field foul pole to rob Bryan Reynolds of extra bases. Two innings later, Machado made a diving play and threw from his knees to nab former teammate Austin Hedges.

Then, with the game hanging in the balance in the seventh, Soto made an outstanding diving catch on Andrew McCutchen’s sinking line drive with two runners aboard.

Moments later, Soto tattooed Perdomo’s poorly located fastball deep into the right-field seats. The Padres were on their way to a win they sorely needed. Not even a ball to the back of their star third baseman would throw them off course.

“We've got to go out there and play the best baseball for the next two months,” Machado. “That's the task at hand. That's the challenge we're going to accept. Today was a good part of it. We've got to continue doing that every single day.”