Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two-run homers, both stayed at the plate to admire runs no doubt to the second deck, and the San Diego Padres beat the New York Yankees 5-1 in Game 1 on Friday. of the series between high-profile teams trying to overcome slow starts.
Soto put the Padres ahead in the fifth inning off Randy Vasquez (0-1), a 24-year-old right-hander making his major league debut, and Tatis increased the lead to 4-0 in the sixth off Ron Marinaccio. The units totaled 871 feet.
Joe Musgrove (2-2), pitching in New York for the first time since beating the Mets in seven scoreless innings in last year’s clincher of the wild-card series, ended a winless streak of four starts. He allowed one run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI groundout in the sixth for the Yankees after Gleyber Torres singled and Aaron Judge doubled.
Rougned Odor added a run-scoring single in the ninth for San Diego against Ryan Weber, giving him 12 RBIs in his last five games.
A crowd of 46,724 packed Yankee Stadium, only the third full this season, to see teams enter Memorial Day weekend underperforming. San Diego is 24-27 and is 6 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees are 30-23 after their third straight loss, eight games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Yankees began the season with a payroll of $275 million, second only to the Mets’ record $355 million, and the Padres were third with $258 million. San Diego has won four of five since falling to 20-26.
After Vásquez grazed Jake Cronenworth’s thigh with a pitch in the fifth, Soto fouled out 1-0 with his left knee and then hit a full-count slicer to right for his 10th home run. The 432-foot drive left the bat at 114 mph, the Padres’ fastest home run this season.
Soto transferred his bat to his left hand and then, holding the thick end, threw the wood to the ground and slammed his right fist into his chest before breaking into a jog.
Tatis followed up a walk to Austin Nola sending a first-pitch changeup 439 feet to the second deck in left field for his eighth home run. He held the bat as he watched the ball, then casually tossed it toward the Padres’ bench.
After each home run, the sluggers posed with the runners for a Polaroid, a tradition that began last season. Tatis appeared to discuss his home run to the fans as he walked to right field for the bottom half.
Vásquez allowed two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and one walk. He threw 51 of 84 pitches for strikes, averaging 93.7 mph on his fastball.
Vasquez had not seen a major league game in person until Thursday. His No. 98 became the highest number worn by a Yankees starting pitcher, surpassing JP Sears’ No. 92 last year.