San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado recorded the second five-hit game of the new season on Thursday night in a 12-1 win against the Atlanta Braves (box score). The first such game was previously recorded by Cleveland Guardians rookie outfielder Steven Kwan.
Machado, 29 years old, opened his night with a single in the first inning off Braves starter Charlie Morton. He’d notch another against Morton in the second inning, and then one more in the fourth. Machado rapped his fourth single against Sean Newcomb in the sixth inning before delivering his first home run of the season in the seventh versus Atlanta’s former closer Will Smith. Take a look:
For those wondering, Statcast measured Machado’s home run as having an exit velocity of 110 mph and traveled an estimated 366 feet.
Machado did receive a sixth at-bat in the ninth inning. Alas, he merely flied out to center, leaving him at 5-for-6 for the night.
Machado entered Thursday having batted .231/.333/.346 (100 OPS+) with three doubles in his first 30 trips to the plate this season. His five-hit game raised his seasonal line to .344/.417/.531. Clearly, with swings like that, it’s still early in the year.
Machado’s five-hit game is the first for the Padres since Manuel Margot’s effort against the Arizona Diamondbacks in July 2018. Coincidentally, Margot recorded his five-hit game weeks after Freddy Galvis authored his own versus — who else? — the Braves in June of that year.
The Padres as a team enjoyed an offensive outburst against Morton and the Braves. They scored 12 runs on 16 hits, including two home runs: the aforementioned one by Machado, and then the first of the young career of shortstop C.J. Abrams. Luke Voit, Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers combined to drive in seven runs on eight hits.
