Machado homers as Padres beat Giants 6-4 for seventh straight win

Manny Machado hit a two-run homer, Fernando Tatis Jr. drove in two runs and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on Sunday night, finishing a three-game sweep at Oracle Park and extending their winning streak to seven.

San Diego scored five times in the first two innings against Logan Webb. The Giants spent the rest of the game cutting into that lead, but Yuki Matsui finished the ninth for his first save of the season. The Padres improved to 81-68; San Francisco fell to 62-88.

Jackson Merrill supplied the first damage with a two-run double to left in the opening inning, bringing home Tatis and Dustin Harris. Webb escaped without allowing another run in that inning, but San Diego returned to him immediately in the second.

Tatis singled home Samad Taylor before Machado drove a pitch 392 feet to left for his 27th home run. The two-run shot made it 5-0. Tatis finished 3 for 4 with two runs scored, accounting for a third of San Diego’s nine hits while producing runs in three separate scoring sequences.

Andrew Knizner answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, scoring Shay Whitcomb. The Padres then added a run in the fourth through a milestone for Ethan Salas: the young catcher tripled for his first major league hit, and Tatis followed with a single that brought him home.

That sixth run mattered as San Francisco worked its way back. Christian Koss scored on Bryce Eldridge’s groundout in the fifth. In the sixth, Scott Bandura singled in his major league debut and eventually scored on Koss’ single, trimming the lead to two.

McCovey Chronicles reported before the game that Bandura’s promotion followed Rafael Devers’ move to the injured list. His debut gave the Giants a franchise-record 67 players used this season. Bandura finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a run; Eldridge, Whitcomb and Koss each had two hits.

Nick Pivetta allowed two runs over four innings, striking out five without a walk on 69 pitches. San Diego used five relievers after him. Kyle Hart was charged with both middle-inning runs, but Wandy Peralta delivered four scoreless outs and earned the victory. Randy Vásquez worked around two walks in the eighth before Matsui struck out Jonah Cox to end the game.

Webb allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings despite seven strikeouts. Matt Wilkinson and Trent Harris held San Diego scoreless over the final four innings, giving the Giants opportunities to close the gap. They could not find the tying runs.

San Diego heads to Colorado next, while San Francisco opens a series in St. Louis. After seven straight wins, the Padres carry a 2 1/2-game advantage over Arizona for the National League’s final wild-card position.