The San Diego Padres won Major League Baseball’s first game in Mexico City with a 16-11 victory over the San Francisco Giants. The game featured a total of 11 home runs, with Manny Machado hitting two and putting San Diego ahead in the seventh inning. Other players who hit home runs for the Padres included Nelson Cruz, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis, and Xander Bogaerts.
The two-game series was played at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, which is located at 7,349 feet above sea level, making it the highest elevation for big league games. The Padres outhomered the Giants 6-5 and outhit them 17-13 in the thin air.
In front of a crowd of 19,611, Tatis doubled off Tyler Rogers and Machado hit his fourth home run of the season, giving the Padres a lead they would not relinquish. Cruz went 5 for 6 with four RBIs and became the oldest player to homer for the Padres at 42 years and 302 days.
Despite home runs from Brandon Crawford, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Mitch Haniger, San Francisco was unable to keep pace with the Padres. The Giants trailed 3-0 and 5-2, but went ahead 8-5 with a six-run fourth inning before falling behind 9-8 in the fifth. The game remained close until the Padres scored four runs in the eighth inning to secure the victory.
Tom Cogrove, a 26-year-old left-hander who played at Manhattan College, won in his major league debut in the seventh for the Padres, relieving with a runner at third and retiring Joc Pederson on a groundout.
The game featured a number of records, including Bogaerts becoming the first player to homer in regular-season games in four countries, adding to his previous homers in the U.S., Canada, and England.
After each home run, the Padres topped the triumphant hitter with a mariachi sombrero in the dugout, with Tatis purchasing the green, red, white, and black hat the night before the game. The Giants wore black jerseys with “Los Gigantes” across the chest, while San Diego was in its Nike City Connect uniforms of pink, gold, and green on white.
Overall, the game was an exciting and high-scoring affair, with the Padres coming out on top and making history in the process.
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