Tatis homers, Padres rally for 5-3 win over Diamondbacks

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San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates his solo home run against Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX ā€“ Fernando Tatis Jr. mashed his first homer of the season while Joe Musgrove earned his first win on the mound.

It took a few weeks for the San Diego Padres to become whole for various reasons, but now that they're at full strength, they feel a turnaround is just around the corner.

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Tatis connected for his first regular season homer since 2021, Ha-Seong Kim had a crucial two run single and the Padres rallied for a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

ā€œWe're bouncing back together,ā€ Tatis said. ā€œIt's going to be a long road, but we've got a great team over here and we're getting on the train track together.ā€

The Padres took the lead in the first inning on Tatis' first homer since his return from an 80-game drug suspension on Thursday. The 24-year-old turned on an 0-2 fastball from Merrill Kelly, hitting it into the left-center stands, just out of the reach of a leaping Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Tatis missed all of last season, first because of a broken left wrist. When he was about to return, he was hit with his PED suspension for a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Clostebol.

The young star is just 2 for 13 at the plate in his first three games this season, but the homer was a big step.

ā€œIt's been a long time since I've done that in the big leagues,ā€ Tatis said. ā€œI'm glad I got it out of the way.ā€

The D-backs bounced back for a 3-2 lead in the third on Christian Walker's third homer of the season. The first baseman turned on a breaking ball from Musgrove, and it landed in the D-backs' bullpen down the left-field line.

Musgrove (1-0) made his first start of the season after starting the year on the injured list. He fractured his left big toe during spring training in a weight room accident.

Musgrove had an up-and-down outing but got through five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits. He struck out six. The Padres improved to 11-12 for the season.

ā€œI honestly felt surprisingly calm today,ā€ Musgrove said. ā€œI had visualized and thought about this moment for a while. The delayed start creates some anticipation, but I felt I did a good job of managing nerves.ā€

The Padres rallied in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs against Kelly. D-backs manager Torey Lovullo brought Kyle Nelson in the game and the lefty struck out two straight batters before Kim hit a bouncing single through the left side, which scored two runs and put San Diego up 4-3.

Kim also had a pair of solid defensive plays at third base while filling in for Manny Machado, who got the day off because of a sore back.

ā€œThis is a game that was a little frustrating,ā€ Lovullo said. ā€œWe did a lot of things well. The difference was some timely two-out hitting by the Padres.ā€

Jake Cronenworth's RBI single in the eighth made it 5-3. Josh Hader worked the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances.

Kelly (1-3) labored through five innings, giving up four runs. He struck out seven, but walked five and threw 94 pitches.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Walker was hit by a pitch on the left forearm. The arm was wrapped after the game, but the first baseman said he expected to be fine.

Padres: Machado was dealing with back tightness. He's had a slow start to the season, batting .221 with one homer and seven RBIs.

UP NEXT

The teams wrap up the four-game series on Sunday afternoon. The Padres will send RHP Yu Darvish (0-2, 3.44 ERA) to the mound while the D-backs will counter with rookie RHP Drey Jameson (2-0, 2.25 ERA).

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