San Diego, CA

Manny Machado’s walk-off home run caps Padres rally, delivers redemption in win over Diamondbacks

Published

2 years ago

July 6, 2024

Manny Machado’s walk-off home run caps Padres rally, delivers redemption in win over Diamondbacks

With a little more than three weeks left until the trade deadline, General Manager A.J. Preller is sure to be shopping for pitching this month.

His two most expensive starters are on the injured list and without a definitive timetable.

The guy expected to be the ace is slumping.

Another key arm has already thrown more innings than he ever has in the majors.

Which makes every turn that Randy Vásquez takes in the rotation a critical data point as Preller decides just how to play the chips he has left.

Just what can the Padres expect from the 25-year-old right-hander?

Starts like Friday’s would be just fine, but clearly at least one leverage bullpen arm needs to be on Preller’s list, too, even if Jurickson Profar and Machado managed to save the day again.

A half-inning after the bullpen coughed up six runs, Profar hit a game-tying homer and Manny Machado hit a walk-off, two-run homer for a 10-8 win over the Diamondbacks in front of a Petco Park-record crowd of 47,171.

It ain’t over ’til Manuel Arturo Machado says it’s over. pic.twitter.com/4LSUvemYtR
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 6, 2024
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“We’re making it normal, right?” Profar said. “We’re showing who we are as a team. We’re going to do it over and over again. We’ve got guys in here. I’ve been telling you guys since Day 1, we don’t quit. We keep giving it.”

Especially of late.

The Padres had won four straight series entering the final homestand before the All-Star break. Including Friday’s dramatics, they’ve won 12 of their last 15 games and a 7-2 lead in the ninth inning looked like it would afford Padres manager Mike Shildt his primary goal after Vásquez’s quality start:

Stay away from the leverage arms that had worked the previous two wins.

“Almost at all cost,” Shildt admitted afterward.

Jurickson Profar (10) rounds the bases after a ninth-inning home run. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Relievers Adrián Morejón and Jeremiah Estrada were both down. Closer Robert Suarez gave the team a thumbs up after throwing Friday afternoon if a save situation arrived and it did, unbelievably.

Shoot, Enyel De Los Santos even recorded the first out of the ninth before back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases, forcing Shildt to push Suarez into the game.

His first pitch to Alek Thomas: A grand slam to right to cut the Padres’ lead to a single run.

Suarez fetched another out on a groundball, but Corbin Carroll followed with a double and Randall Grichuk — pinch-hitting for All-Star Ketel Marte (back tightness) — blasted the go-ahead home run into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.

Fine.

No big deal around here.

“We’re built that way,” Machado said. “We’re going to fight until the 27th out is made.”

Manny Machado (13) celebrates after his walk-off home run. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

It never was.

Down 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Profar battled back from 0-2 against closer Paul Sewald to launch a game-tying homer to right. After Jake Cronenworth worked a walk, Machado pulled an 0-2 sweeper over the wall in left, setting off a raucous celebration that included a fan managing to get onto the field in front of the dugout with a cellphone in Machados’ face before he was taken to the ground by six security guards.

“I thought it was one of our guys in here celebrating with me,” Machado said after his fourth hit of the game delivered his 10th career walk-off homer. “I looked around and when I turned around he was getting tackled, man. I felt bad. I felt bad.

“Obviously it’s not a good situation for him, but he got some good footage there, for sure.”

A fan is held by security after running onto the field during the Padres postgame celebration. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

What should have been a winning formula without all the late-inning dramatics was small ball early, rookie Jackson Merrill tripling and tying a career-high with three RBIs and Kyle Higashioka adding on in the sixth with a two-run homer.

More and more, Vásquez is contributing to that formula as 6⅓ innings of two-run ball positioned the Padres to win a third straight game that began with him on the mound.

He struck out six batters, including two after Joc Pederson led off the sixth inning with a leadoff single and one more to boot to start the seventh as Shildt asked the bullpen to protect a five-run lead.

It was Pederson who tagged Vásquez for a first-inning homer after Carroll’s leadoff double. The Diamondbacks threatened to add on in the first inning after Lourdes Gurriel’s two-out double, but Vásquez punched out Gabriel Moreno for the start of nine straight outs to settle into the game.

Including Friday’s quality start, Vásquez has a 1.76 ERA over his last three starts, all wins for the Padres.

“It’s really a combination of working on my mechanics and also working on sequencing each pitch,” Vásquez, speaking through interpreter Danny Sanchez, said of his last three starts. “Luckily I’ve been able to have good results with a combination of those two things.”

Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez (98) gestures to right fielder David Peralta (24) after Peralta's catch. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) — Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez (98) gestures to right fielder David Peralta (24) after Peralta’s catch. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Given all the support he had in Boston, Vásquez was on his way to a win for himself in his last start when a comebacker off his right elbow knocked him from the game after four innings of one-run ball.

X-rays came back negative.

Just a lot of pain and swelling at first, enough for the Padres to push his start back a day to Friday.

But Vásquez did not have any limitations as he returned to the mound and pitched into the seventh inning for the second time in his career, both this season. He walked off the mound to a warm ovation from the record crowd.

Small ball had everything to do with Vásquez leaving with a lead.

First, Machado led off the second with a double, moved to third on a groundball from Donovan Solano and scored on another groundball from Merrill.

Two innings later, back-to-back seeing-eye singles from Cronenworth and Machado set up a four-run rally to give the Padres the lead. Both runners advanced a base on Solano’s fly ball to right-center and scored easily on the triple that Merrill pulled into the right-field corner.

David Peralta followed with a run-scoring double, Higashioka added a run-scoring single to open a 5-2 lead and the Padres catcher went deep in the sixth for his 10th homer of the season.

Nine of Higashioka’s blasts have come since June 1, tied with Merril for the most on the team over that stretch.

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San Diego, CA

San Diego Bishop Is Out of a Job

Published

1 hour ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Chaldean Catholic bishop of San Diego, California, a decision announced Tuesday by the Vatican after the bishop was arrested on embezzlement charges. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said last week it had arrested Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta on Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he tried to leave the country, reports the AP. The office said it acted after someone from Shaleta’s church provided a statement and documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” Shaleta was being held on $125,000 bail on eight counts of embezzlement, money laundering, and aggravated white collar crime, the statement said. Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday, reports NBC San Diego.

“He was on his way to Germany,” prosecutor Joel Madero said. “Given his access to funds, the fact that he had over $9,000 in the bag when he was stopped, and the fact that he has these international ties … I do believe that some bail to ensure he shows up is appropriate.” There was no immediate reply to an email sent to Shaleta’s parish, St. Peter Chaldean Church, seeking comment and contact information for his attorney. The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Leo had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for eastern rite churches that allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down.

Leo actually accepted the resignation when Shaleta presented it in February, but an announcement was not made until Tuesday, according to the Vatican embassy in Washington. The Holy See appears to have waited to announce the decision to avoid interfering with the police investigation. Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator. Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Detroit in 1984. He was named to the San Diego branch of the eastern rite Catholic Church in the US in 2017.

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Germán Márquez

Published

13 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Germán Márquez – San Diego Union-Tribune

GERMÁN MÁRQUEZ

Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 31
Height / Weight: 6-foot-1 / 230 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in February 2026
Contract status: Will make $1 million in 2026 with a $750,000 buyout on a mutual option for 2027; can add up to $3.25 million in performance bonuses.
fWAR in 2025: 0.3
Key 2025 stats: 3-16, 6.70 ERA, 83 strikeouts, 48 walks, 1.71 WHIP, .317 opponent average, 126⅓ innings (26 starts)

STAT TO NOTE

36.9 — The percentage of groundballs that Márquez yielded in 2025, a career low and significantly below his career average (48%). Márquez’s groundball rate was regularly above 50% before requiring Tommy John surgery in early 2023. He made one start in 2024 and struggled mightily while making 26 starts last year.

Down — Márquez had a 4.40 ERA through his first seven years in the majors, not bad considering he pitched roughly half his games at one of the best hitting environments in the majors. In fact, Márquez has a 5.17 ERA in his career at Coors Field and a 4.22 ERA in road environments. But Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, made one start in the majors in mid-July in 2024 (4 IP, 3 ER) and struggled throughout his first full year back in the Rockies rotation. The season was so difficult for Márquez that he was actually worse on the road (7.32 ERA) than he was in 11 starts at Coors Field (5.98 ERA). His strikeout rate (5.9 per nine innings) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.73) were the worst of his careers, as was his walk rate (3.4 per nine innings), while his hit rate (12.0 per nine innings) was the second worst of his career. On top of that, Márquez’s groundball rate was also the lowest of his career (see stat to note) and ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile of the league and his hard-hit rate (48.5%) and average exit velocity (91.7 mph) both ranked in the bottom 2 percentile of the league. One reason: a 94.8 mph four-seamer is down a few ticks than the height of his effectiveness. Márquez reached free agency after the season and signed with the Padres in February.

2026 OUTLOOK

Márquez has a big-league deal with the Padres, but he’ll have to rediscover his pre-elbow-reconstruction form to hold onto a roster spot, as RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) is expected to push for a spot at some point this season and the likes of LHP JP Sears, RHP Matt Waldron and minor league signees like Marco Gonzales could warrant looks if Márquez’s struggles continue into 2026.

German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

ROSTER RANKINGS

1. OF Fernando Tatis Jr.
2. 3B Manny Machado
3. OF Jackson Merrill
4. RHP Nick Pivetta
5. RHP Michael King
6. RHP Mason Miller
7. OF Ramón Laureano
8. SS Xander Bogaerts
9. LHP Adrián Morejón
10. RHP Jeremiah Estrada
11. RHP Jason Adam
12. 2B Jake Cronenworth
13. RHP Joe Musgrove
14. RHP Randy Vasquez
15. OF Gavin Sheets
16. LHP JP Sears
17. RHP Yu Darvish
18. RHP Bradgley Rodriguez
19. RHP David Morgan
20. C Freddy Fermin
21. LHP Wandy Peralta
22. C Luis Campusano
23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP German Marquez
26. RHP Matt Waldron
27. OF Bryce Johnson
28. OF/1B Nick Castellanos
29. RHP Ron Marinaccio
30. RHP Bryan Hoeing
31. LHP Kyle Hart
32. INF Will Wagner
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy

Removed from 40-man roster

OF Tirso Ornelas (designated for assignment)
RHP Jhony Brito (60-day injured list)

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San Diego, CA

Blount named Head Basketball Coach at San Diego – HoopDirt

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Blount named Head Basketball Coach at San Diego – HoopDirt

In today’s Daily Dirt, I mentioned that the search at San Diego was done. Here’s the official announcement from USD on the hiring of JR Blount as their next head men’s basketball coach:

University of San Diego Athletics has named JR Blount the 15th head coach in San Diego men’s basketball program history, USD Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey announced on Monday.

Blount arrives in San Diego with a reputation as one of college basketball’s rising coaching talents after helping lead Iowa State to four NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.

He joins the Toreros after five seasons on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State, where the Cyclones compiled a 95-45 record during his tenure, won the 2024 Big 12 Tournament Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2024 — one of the most successful stretches in program history. Iowa State finished in the AP Top 15 in each of those four seasons and climbed as high as No. 2 nationally in each of the last two years. During the 2025-26 season, the Cyclones opened with a 16-0 start, highlighted by victories over No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 9 Kansas and No. 14 St. John’s.

“After a thorough and highly competitive national search, we are proud to welcome JR Blount as the next head coach of USD men’s basketball,” said Massey. “JR is an outstanding leader, a relentless competitor and one of the brightest rising coaches in college basketball. Even more importantly, throughout this process I came to know him as a humble leader with strong integrity and deep family values. JR has been a part of winning at every level of his career and understands what it takes to build a program that competes with toughness, discipline and consistency. Just as importantly, he believes in developing young men holistically and leading in a way that reflects the values of this university.

“This is a pivotal moment for our program and JR’s vision aligns with our belief that San Diego men’s basketball should compete in the upper tier of the WCC and position itself to be a regular NCAA Tournament participant. We are excited about what lies ahead under his leadership.”

“As a product of Catholic education and deeply committed to USD’s mission and values, Coach Blount is an outstanding role model for the young men in our Torero basketball program,” said USD President James T. Harris III. “He brings an impressive resume with deep experience, a winning track record and — above all — a commitment to the overall wellbeing of our student-athletes.”

“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead USD men’s basketball,” Blount said. “We are so thankful to Athletic Director Kimya Massey and President Harris for this opportunity. This is more than just a coaching position for me — it’s a chance to become part of a community and build something meaningful. My wife and our three daughters are excited to make this move together and we can’t wait to invest in this university and the relationships that make it special.

I come to USD with a deep desire to win — to compete relentlessly, to develop our young men to their fullest potential and to build a program our fans can be proud of. Winning championships is important, but so is building a culture of toughness, accountability and love. We’re going to work every day to represent USD the right way, on and off the court. I’m ready to get started.”

Blount played a key role in Iowa State’s rise under Otzelberger, helping orchestrate one of the most significant program turnarounds in recent Division I history. In his first season with the Cyclones in 2021-22, Iowa State rebounded from a two-win campaign the year before to finish 22-13 and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Cyclones quickly established a national reputation for defensive toughness, ranking among the nation’s best in scoring defense, defensive efficiency, steals and turnovers forced.

Over the next three seasons, Blount helped Iowa State sustain that momentum. In 2022-23, the Cyclones advanced to the NCAA Tournament and recorded nine wins over AP Top 25 opponents, tied for the most in school history. In 2023-24, Iowa State won the Big 12 Championship, finished 29-8, posted an undefeated 18-0 record at Hilton Coliseum and advanced to the Sweet 16. Most recently, the 2024-25 Cyclones finished 25-10, climbed as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, earned another NCAA Tournament appearance and closed the season ranked No. 17 nationally.

Known for his work in player development, recruiting and culture-building, Blount has mentored multiple all-conference and All-America caliber players throughout his coaching career. At Iowa State, he developed some of the Big 12’s top performers while contributing to a program identity rooted in toughness, connectivity and competitive excellence.

Prior to Iowa State, Blount spent three seasons at Colorado State, where he helped elevate the Rams into one of the Mountain West’s top programs. During his tenure in Fort Collins, Colorado State signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history and posted consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 20-8 finish and a run to the NIT semifinals in 2020-21. He also played a leadership role in Colorado State’s Together Initiative, which promoted social justice and racial equality on campus.

Blount also previously served in coaching roles at Drake and Saint Leo and began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where the program won the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship.

A former three-year team captain and two-time team MVP at Loyola University Chicago, Blount later played professionally for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League during the 2010-11 season. He earned degrees in psychology and sociology from Loyola in 2009 and later received his master’s degree in education from UW-Stevens Point in 2012.

A native of Milwaukee, Blount and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters: Maya, Zuri and Gema.

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