SAN DIEGO -- You don¡¯t want to give Manny Machado an extra chance at the plate.
And you definitely don¡¯t want to give him two.
The Cubs learned the hard way on Tuesday night.
In the bottom of the fifth inning of Chicago¡¯s 2-1 victory at Petco Park, two Cubs defenders dropped popups by Machado in foul territory. Those two errors gave Machado new life during an epic nine-pitch battle with ace Shota Imanaga.
Machado won that battle -- and made the Cubs pay -- when Imanaga left a thigh-high fastball on the inner half with his ninth pitch. Machado launched it into the left-center-field seats, putting the Padres on top, 1-0.
¡°I was definitely excited to see some more pitches,¡± Machado said.
That was all the offense the Padres mustered on a night they saw their season-opening, home winning streak come to an end at 11 games. Chicago responded with a run in the sixth, before Nico Hoerner¡¯s 10th-inning triple proved decisive.
It was a rare cold night for the San Diego offense -- though not for Machado, who is off to a hot start to the season, hitting .313 with an .894 OPS. Machado has been a thorn in the side of Cubs pitching this series. His 11-pitch walk on Monday night chased starter Jameson Taillon and sparked a late nine-run barrage against the Chicago bullpen.
¡°Give Machado credit,¡± said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. ¡°I mean, right? In a way, as a fan, you're frustrated that we didn't make some plays, but give Machado some credit.¡±
Machado fouled the first pitch of the at-bat high in the air down the right-field line, where Kyle Tucker and the second baseman, Hoerner, converged. Tucker called off Hoerner but couldn¡¯t corral the ball, about two steps into foul ground.
¡°You¡¯re talking about a Gold Glover out there,¡± Machado said. ¡°And he¡¯s given you another chance to go out there and continue to compete in the at-bat. That kind of changed the game a little bit.¡±
Three pitches later, Machado skied a popup just to the left of home plate. Cubs third baseman Gage Workman called off catcher Miguel Amaya, then tried to make an underhand grab on the dirt next to the plate. The ball caromed off Workman¡¯s glove and into foul territory.
From there, Machado continued to make Imanaga work, fouling off four more pitches in the at-bat before launching his second home run of the season.
¡°He was making tremendous pitches all game,¡± Machado said. ¡°Just keep trying to hunt that mistake. He didn¡¯t give many. I was lucky enough to put one in the seats.¡±
It marked the fifth time in his career Machado has hit a home run on the ninth pitch of an at-bat or later. He most recently did so last Aug. 27 in St. Louis against Miles Mikolas.
It wasn¡¯t enough for a Padres team that finished the night 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
¡°We¡¯re obviously there until the end,¡± Machado said. ¡°We just couldn¡¯t capitalize on that one hit. We created some opportunities ¡ couldn¡¯t deliver. Yeah, sometimes it goes that way.¡±