Sept. 19 – Dylan Seth allowed only two hits in 8 1/3 innings, Manny Machado hit two homers, and the San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros 4–0 on Wednesday, securing a tie and winning a game between playoff contenders.
Ocean (14-11) struck out the first 15 batters it faced, with Jason Heyward leading off the sixth inning with a clean hit to right. Seth retired the next nine batters, then Mauricio Dubon started the ninth and LB Wing hit an infield single before an error put runners on first and third, with one batter out.
Tanner Scott came out of the bullpen with the final two outs for his third save and 21st save for San Diego. The Padres (87-66) hold a 2.5-game lead over Arizona for the National League’s first wild-card spot, with the Los Angeles Dodgers in first place in the NL West pending their game at Miami.
Houston (82-70) cut its AL West lead over the Seattle Mariners to 4 1/2 games. Seattle hosts the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
Flamber Valdez (14-7) kept batting in the bottom of the sixth inning with Seth Machado hitting a sinker on the first pitch that went over the left-center field wall for the only necessary run of the season.
Valdez pitched seven innings, allowing five hits and one run, walking two and striking out six.
San Diego opened the scoring with three straight home runs in nine pitches against Valdez’s replacement Caleb Ort in the eighth inning. Fernando Tatis hit his 19th home run of the year to left center, then Machado hit his 29th homer to left center off Donovan Solano (Donovan Solano) also hit his seventh home run to left.
The Padres got two chances to score early but failed to capitalize. Valdez induced a grounder double in the second inning, then struck out Tatis and got a grounder from Machado before stranding runners on second and third.
Rookie Jackson Merrill had three of San Diego’s nine hits.
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