Inside The Padres

Insane Catch Robs Padres' Manny Machado of Home Run, Extending Drought

Maren Angus-Coombs

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
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San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado thought he had ended his home run drought in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds.

Since his home run against the Dodgers' James Paxton on April 14, Machado had not hit a home run in 47 consecutive at-bats entering Wednesday’s game. The streak extended to 48 in the cruelest way possible.

With two runners on base and an 0-1 count, Machado drove a ball to left-center field that appeared to be leaving the yard until Reds center fielder Stuart Fairchild made a leaping robbery.

Machado had four home runs in his first 69 regular season at-bats, a rate of one every 17.25 at-bats that was better than his career rate of one every 19.85 at-bats entering the season.

Spencer Steer homered for the Reds with two outs in the first to give Cincinnati the early 1-0 lead. It looked like the Padres were going to take the lead with a three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. Instead, the play resulted in an out and starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft pointing to Fairchild, who picked up his hat after crashing into the wall.

Fairchild's play has to be on the shortlist for plays of the year and should be on highlight reels for the rest of the season.

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Maren Angus-Coombs

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.