BOSTON -- Nobody in the San Diego clubhouse preaches a process-oriented approach more than Manny Machado.
Sure, the Padres had begun the season slowly on offense. But their at-bats were quality, Machado insisted. Their approach was the correct one. They were doing all the right things at the plate. Eventually, the results would follow.
A day like this one is precisely what Machado had in mind.
The Padres won a dramatic series finale over the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon, a come-from-behind 8-6 victory at a cold and rainy Fenway Park. Machado put the Padres in front with a three-run homer in the fifth. After Boston rallied to tie the game, childhood Red Sox fan Jackson Merrill won it in the eighth with a go-ahead blast into the Green Monster seats.
Amazing what a couple of clutch home runs will do for a slumping offense.
“Overall, we’ve been having good at-bats as a team,” Machado said. “We just continued to do that today.”
Process, process, process.
Except on Sunday, the Padres had the results to show for it. Their eight runs were the most they’ve scored in a game this season, and so were their 12 hits. Perhaps most importantly, Machado, Merrill, and Xander Bogaerts all starred (after all three had started the season relatively slowly).
“We get those three guys moving the baseball the way they did today, we’re going to score a few runs,” said manager Craig Stammen.
The Padres entered play Sunday tied for last in the Majors with 24 runs across their first eight games. They were dead last with three homers and a .291 slugging percentage.
There was also evidence to believe they’d been one of the sport’s unluckiest teams over the first week. The quality of their contact indicated their results should’ve been much better than what they actually were.
The Padres themselves weren’t afraid to say it. Not because they were making excuses. But because if they were going to stick to their process, well, here was evidence to support the fact that their process would work.
Of course, any talk of bad luck typically falls on deaf ears. No fan base wants to hear that -- especially after losses. Still, this sample was a small one. Spread over the course of a long season, bad luck is just an excuse. But after a week and a half?
“Yeah, I think we’ve been very unlucky,” Merrill said. “We’ve had good at-bats, hit balls hard, they’ve just not been going where we want them to go. But also, you can’t judge a team based off of seven games, eight games. That’s not fair. You have to give a team time to click, get going.
“Obviously, today -- that’s our brand of baseball.”
If so, the Padres’ offense will be just fine. They found themselves behind 4-0 early after a shaky start from Walker Buehler, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings. San Diego answered straight away.
In the top of the fourth, Merrill singled home a run, then Nick Castellanos -- who was making his first career start at first base -- singled home two with two outs. Castellanos has played only sparingly in San Diego. But he made his opportunity count on Sunday.
“It’s tough when you go from being an everyday player to being on a team where you’re somewhat of a role player,” said Stammen. “We’re trying to get him as many at-bats as we can to keep him feeling good in the box. Same with Ty France. And both those guys came up with two big hits in the last two days.
“It’s just those guys buying into the team atmosphere and wanting to contribute -- and then competing in the box, even though they may not feel their best.”
The depth of the Padres’ offense is a major part of the reason they’re confident they can bounce back from a disappointing 2025 season at the plate. A year ago at this time, they were giving regular at-bats to Yuli Gurriel, Jason Heyward and Martín Maldonado.
They feel a lot more comfortable with the bottom of their lineup this season -- even if it means guys like Castellanos and Gavin Sheets aren’t starting every day. (Sheets would come off the bench in the ninth and hit a laser double to center before coming around to score an important insurance run.)
Mason Miller would nail down his fourth save, striking out the side in the ninth inning. The Padres had their first series victory of the season -- and they did so by rallying for late wins on consecutive brutal weather days at Fenway Park.
Did that make the victories even sweeter?
“Nah, I don’t think it changes,” Machado said. “Winning is the best.”