Padres Accomplish Something For First Time Since 1979 in Win Over Dodgers

The San Diego Padres made Major League Baseball history on Sunday night in their 6-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The game marked only the 162nd time since 1900 that a team has walked at least 14 times in a game. It was the second time the Padres accumulated that many walks in a game; the first was on Aug. 25, 1979, in a 19-inning game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

San Diego is a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of their overall swing rate this season. Sunday, their patience paid off. They swung at just 12 of the 87 pitches they saw outside the strike zone, a season-low rate of 13.8 percent.

“We have been aggressive in our pitches and our strike zone,” Tatis said. “And being able to lay off (bad) pitches has been the key to success with what we have built.”

Hitting coach Victor Martinez spoke at length with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune about the team's approach in the batter's box, saying, “All the work that we do is about hitting. It’s not about taking pitches.”

The Padres' approach paid off against the Dodgers on Sunday, when they only struck out three times.

“I think a walk is the result of a good approach," Martinez told Acee. "It is not the purpose. But if they want to walk us, we take the walk. We have to take the walk.”

Ha-Seong Kim walked a game-high four times, Xander Bogaerts had three free passes while Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth walked twice. Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, and José Azocar walked once.

The only downside for the Padres was their struggle to deliver with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-12 and leaving 10 runners on base. They were also caught stealing twice.

As the Padres progress throughout the season, it will be important for them to capitalize on the free passes with clutch hitting. For example, two of the runners on for Profar's game-winning double were on base because of walks.