Freddy Fermin hit a seventh-inning home run Saturday to lift the San Diego Padres to a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets and end a season-worst six-game losing streak.
The homer was Fermin’s first of the season and his first long ball since Sept. 16 of last year; it came after the Padres had been mired in an 0-for-30 drought and managed just five hits in the game. The victory halted San Diego’s skid at a time when the club entered Saturday ranked last in the big leagues in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS.
The game unfolded in fits. The Mets scored first in the second on a seeing-eye single. San Diego tied it in the third when Fernando Tatis Jr.’s first hit of the game caromed off second base and allowed Sung-Mun Song to score. In the seventh, Bradgley Rodriguez gave up a Marcus Semien solo homer that nudged New York ahead, and later in the inning Fermin — who had been 0-for-30 entering the at-bat — launched a go-ahead shot that proved decisive.
Fermin contributed on both sides of the plate: he threw out a would-be base-stealer in the fourth and, after the homer, offered a terse reaction, saying simply "Padres." The swing ended a personal drought and produced the winning runs in a game defined by few baserunners and even fewer clean hits.
On the mound, Griffin Canning gave San Diego length, allowing one run over five innings while striking out six and walking two across 86 pitches. Mason Miller worked a scoreless ninth for his first save since May 29 in Washington, closing out the 3-2 finish.
The win feels important because it stops the skid and because Fermin’s shot directly decided the outcome. It does not, however, resolve the larger problem: the Padres’ offense has been the worst in the majors by multiple measures, and Saturday’s victory came despite only five hits and long stretches of offensive futility.
That contradiction is the story’s rub. The homer answers Saturday’s need for runs but leaves the larger question open: will this be the start of an offensive turnaround or merely a brief reprieve? The facts stop at the final out — San Diego escaped its slump for one night, but whether Fermin’s blast sparks sustained improvement is an unanswered and consequential next chapter.
