Tatis, Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers to help Padres beat Diamondbacks, 7-1

By DAVID BRANDT
AP Baseball Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers, Dylan Cease pitched 6 2/3 strong inning, and the San Diego Padres won their third game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Friday night.

Manny Machado hit a two-run homer. Cronenworth finished with three extra-base hits, adding two doubles.

The Diamondbacks have lost 10 straight series openers after beating the Colorado Rockies on opening day.

D-backs pitcher Slade Cecconi (1-2) retired the first nine batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Jurickson Profar walked to start the inning and Tatis launched a shot to left-center — his seventh homer of the season.

Cronenworth followed with a another homer to make it 3-0 and rookie Jackson Merrill broke an 0-for-20 stretch at the plate with a one-out RBI double for a 4-0 lead.

It was Cronenworth’s second straight game with a homer. He hit a grand slam in the team’s 6-2 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.

Cecconi didn’t make it out of the fifth, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings.

That was plenty of support for Cease (4-2), the hard-throwing right-hander who gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight.

Machado made it 7-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer to left center off reliever Matt Bowman. The scorched line drive came off Machado’s bat at 111.7 mph.

The sliding D-backs — defending National League champions — have lost 10 of their past 15 games and fell to 14-19 for the season.

Arizona finished with just three hits. Eugenio Suárez had an RBI single in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters that closer Paul Sewald (oblique) and OF Alex Thomas (hamstring) could return to the active roster as soon as Tuesday against the Reds.

UP NEXT

The D-backs will throw RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 4.63 ERA) while the Padres will counter with RHP Michael King (2-3, 5.00 ERA) on Saturday night.

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