Michael Wacha flirts with no-hitter as Padres blank Royals
Veteran right-hander Michael Wacha took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Monday night as the San Diego Padres snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals.
Wacha struck out a career-high 11 and faced two hitters over the minimum through seven innings before Michael Massey opened the eighth with a line-drive single to right on an 0-1 changeup.
Wacha, who signed with the Padres as a free agent in February, retired the first 13 Royals he faced before hitting Edward Olivares with a pitch with one out in the fifth. An inning later, Wacha issued a two-out walk to Bobby Witt Jr.
Wacha (4-1) departed the game immediately after Massey's hit. He gave up one hit, one walk and hit one batter over seven-plus innings. He threw 103 pitches, with 70 going for strikes.
San Diego reliever Nick Martinez allowed a hit over two innings. Wacha and Martinez combined for 13 strikeouts in the two-hit shutout.
The Padres took advantage of the wildness of Kansas City starter Brad Keller to score three runs in the first two innings. Keller (3-4) gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits, eight walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in 3 2/3 innings. He fanned two.
Fernando Tatis Jr. opened the bottom of the first with a single and advanced to third when Keller couldn't field Juan Soto's two-out grounder back to the mound. Tatis scored on a wild pitch.
Trent Grisham and Austin Nola drew back-to-back walks with one out in the second. Grisham scored on Tatis' single to center, and Nola scored when Keller hit Manny Machado with a pitch on the left hand with the bases loaded.
Machado departed the game in the fourth.
Despite scoring three runs, the Padres stranded nine runners in the first four innings. They scored their final run in the seventh. Xander Bogaerts opened the frame with a single off reliever Josh Staumont and moved to second when Matt Carpenter drew the Padres' 10th walk of the night. Ha-Seong Kim drove in Bogaerts with a single.
--Field Level Media