Machado Reaches 2,000 Hits in Padres’ Loss to D-backs

Summary:

• Manny Machado scored his 2,000th career hit and added a home run in the San Diego Padres’ 6–3 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
• Machado is now the 12th player to reach 2,000 hits and 350 homers before the age of 33.
• Josh Naylor homered against his former team, helping Arizona take the series opener.

Manny Machado reached a major career milestone Monday night at Petco Park, reaching the 2,000th hit of his big-league career in the Padres’ 6–3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The veteran third baseman, who turned 33 just one day earlier, didn’t waste much time inching toward history which many US bettors had him down to achieve.

He singled to left in the first inning, then made it official in the fourth when he sent a sharp grounder off Zac Gallen past a diving Geraldo Perdomo and into left field.

The crowd in San Diego gave Machado a rousing standing ovation for the accomplishment. “It felt good”, he said after the game.

However, the Miami native wasn’t done. Later in the game, he managed to crush his 15th solo homer of the season and the 357th of his career for a 3-for-5 performance at the plate.

That milestone put him in the rare company of five other active players (including Freddie Freeman with 2,350 hits, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen, and Paul Goldschmidt) and 297 players in the history of the MLB to reach 2,000 hits.

Plus, Manny Machado became the 12th player under the age of 33 to hit 2,000 hits and 350 home runs.

His career kicked off when he joined the Baltimore Orioles a decade and a half ago. There, he collected close to 1,000 hits before reaching the Los Angeles Dodgers and later the Padres.

Since joining San Diego in 2019, he’s added 950 hits, ranking fifth all-time in hits for the Padres franchise.

However, Machado’s big night wasn’t enough to carry San Diego past Arizona. Josh Naylor, a former Padres prospect, hit a two-run homer off Yuki Matsui in the fifth to break the game open.

Naylor, who debuted with San Diego in 2019 before being dealt to Cleveland, came back to haunt his former team with his 11th homer of the year.

Gallen pitched really well for the Diamondbacks, throwing six solid innings and allowing only one unearned run while striking out nine batters.

On the Padres’ side, Yu Darvish kicked off the season after tackling a previous elbow inflammation problem. The 30-year-old born in Osaka went three and two-thirds innings, gave up two runs on three hits, and was rewarded with a nice round of applause when he exited the game.

Looking ahead, Merrill Kelly is getting ready to take the mound for Arizona on Tuesday, while Nick Pivetta will start for San Diego in the next game of the baseball series.