Kim, Myers lead Padres past Royals 13-5
By DAVID SMALE
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kim Ha-seong homered and drove in five runs, and the San Diego Padres beat the Kansas City Royals 13-5 on Friday night.
Wil Myers and Jake Cronenworth also homered for San Diego in the franchise’s first trip to Kansas City since 2002. Myers finished with three hits and three RBIs, and José Azocar had a career-high four hits.
“We certainly have the ability to (score runs),” manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s important for us to have a good game like this but to follow it up.”
Kim hit an RBI single in the sixth, a two-run double in San Diego’s four-run seventh and a two-run shot in the ninth.
Robert Suarez (4-1) got four outs for the win in relief of Joe Musgrove.
“Wherever he’s coming in now he’s coming in with guys on base,” Melvin said of the importance of Suarez’s outing. “He’s pitching one-plus. He’s really coming into his own at the right time for us.”
Salvador Perez and Nick Pratto each had two hits and two RBIs for Kansas City, which had won two of three. Nicky Lopez also had two hits and scored two runs.
Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (2-9) was tagged for six runs and nine hits in four innings.
Fighting for positioning in the NL wild-card standings, San Diego scored three runs or fewer in its previous six games. But it had no trouble scoring against Kansas City.
The first six runs for the Padres scored with two outs.
“Scoring with two outs is big,” Myers said. “We haven’t been scoring a ton in general lately. Two-out knocks are great.”
Myers hit a two-run double in San Diego’s three-run first. Jurickson Profar drove in Azocar with a two-out double in the second. Myers and Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers in the third.
Kansas City scored its first run on Perez’s RBI single in the third, and then added four more in the fourth. Pratto had the big blow, a two-run shot to right-center against Musgrove.
“Nothing comes easy for us,” Melvin said. “We have a game where we’re ahead 6-0 and we have Joe on the mound. You think that’s about as easy as it can gets. Suarez came in and did a great job and we ended up scoring some runs after that.
“You feel good all the way around. We need to pick up a guy like Joe when he doesn’t have his best stuff.”
San Diego responded with run-scoring singles for Kim in the sixth and Cronenworth in the seventh.
Musgrove was charged with five runs — two earned — and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
“I struggled to get the swing and miss,” Musgrove said. “In the fourth I made some good pitches and wasn’t able to get the misses I wanted. I was able to get the ground balls, but they found some holes. The mistake pitches over the middle were hit hard. Poor execution.”
Kim hit his seventh homer in the ninth against utilityman Hunter Dozier.
TRANSACTIONS
Padres: RHP Yu Darvish was activated from the paternity list. LHP Luis Castillo was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. … C Jorge Alfaro was placed on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation. C Luis Campusano was called up from El Paso. … INF Matthew Batten was optioned to El Paso and INF Eguy Rosario was called up from El Paso.
TRAINING ROOM
Padres OF Juan Soto was not in the starting lineup after missing the last two games with back tightness. Melvin said it was possible that Soto could pinch-hit based on how he felt after batting practice. “He looks like he’s feeling a lot better,” Melvin said. … RHP Pierce Johnson began a rehab assignment with El Paso. He has been on the injured list since April 22 with right elbow tendinitis.
UP NEXT
The Padres and Royals continue their three-game series on Saturday. Darvish (10-7, 3.39 ERA) starts for San Diego against Daniel Lynch (4-8, 4.58 ERA).
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