No slams, but Machado, Padres end Astros' 8-game win streak

SAN DIEGO (AP) — There were no flashy grand slams for the San Diego Padres, just a gritty, grind-em-out effort from the bullpen after Garrett Richards lasted only two innings.

Javy Guerra took over after Richards departed and Manny Machado hit a pair of RBI singles for the Padres, who beat Houston 4-3 Friday night to snap the Astros’ eight-game win streak.

There certainly was stress when rookie manager Jayce Tingler had to turn early to his depleted bullpen, which has been shaky in recent games.

“I feel like I’m aging in dog years, but it’s fun. It’s a blast," Tingler said.

The result was the first career win for Guerra and Emilio Pagán's first save with the Padres. Guerra struck out three in 2 1/3 hitless innings, and Pagán worked around a walk in the ninth.

“Man, you have no idea, It feels pretty good," said Pagán, who had blown his first four save chances with San Diego. “It hasn't gone the way I wanted to so far, but I'm closer each and every outing to being the pitcher that I know I'm capable of being. Luckily for me the lineup has really been slinging it pretty much all season, giving us bullpen guys the time and chance to get going in the right direction and hopefully we can continue this going forward.”

The Padres won their fifth straight but failed to add on to their MLB record of hitting a grand slam in four straight games, which they accomplished in sweeping the Texas Rangers in a four-game, home-and-home series. Eric Hosmer, who had the historic fourth slam on Thursday night, batted with the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth against the Astros and grounded out.

Machado had the third slam in the streak, a game-ending shot in the 10th inning for a 6-3 win Wednesday night.

Machado singled home Hosmer in the first and singled in...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/No-slams-but-Machado-Padres-end-Astros-8-game-15506794.php