San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado hit a home run to end an at-bat where he also hit two foul popups that were dropped by the Chicago Cubs during Tuesday night's MLB game at Petco Park.
It happened in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and nobody on and the game still scoreless. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Machado hit a popup to foul territory in right field. First baseman Michael Busch chased it, but gave way to right fielder Kyle Tucker. Although he appeared to be in position, the ball may have came in on Tucker as it came down as he tried to catch it barehanded, and the ball popped out of his glove.
On the 2-1 pitch, Machado hit a high popup near home plate. It started out in fair territory near the first base line with catcher Miguel Amaya in position to catch it, then drifted into foul territory near the third base line. Third baseman Gage Workman was running towards home the whole way and got there just as the ball came down, but he also tried to catch it backhanded and couldn't snag it in his glove.
Machado would go on to hit four more foul balls and then, sure enough, as luck would have it, Machado hit a fast ball into the left-center field stands for a home run to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
The Cubs dropped two foul pop-ups in the same at-bat, which ended in a Manny Machado home run pic.twitter.com/cBDgbTXl4G
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 16, 2025
Tucker and Workman were both charged with errors. You had a feeling the drops would come back to bite them. This continues an early trend this season of dropped balls and misplayed balls that seems unbecoming of major league ballplayers.
To their credit, the Cubs overcame their fielding mishaps to beat the Padres 2-1 in 10 innings. The Cubs are in first place in the National League Central and have won 3 of their last 4 games. The loss for the Padres ended a 5-game winning streak, but they remain in first place in the National League West.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
