The Kansas City Royals had a chance to open the second half with a sweep at home, but the San Diego Padres turned the game into a runaway and left with a 19-2 win.
Kansas City actually got the first punch in. Noah Cameron worked a scoreless first inning, then Jac Caglianone launched a solo homer in the bottom of the frame - a 114 mph, 432-foot blast to right field, his 16th of the season.
That lead didn’t last long.
San Diego answered with a burst in the second, stringing together two singles, a walk to load the bases, and then a series of clean swings that flipped the game fast. Fernando Tatis Jr. drove in two with a single, Jackson Merrill added an RBI hit, and Manny Machado brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
The Padres kept building in the third with a two-out RBI double and another RBI single to stretch the margin to 6-1. Kansas City got one back in the bottom half when Isaac Collins doubled and scored Caglianone.
Merrill opened the fourth with a homer to push it to 7-2, and even though the Royals loaded the bases with nobody out later in the inning, they came away empty after Carter Jensen struck out and Nick Loftin grounded into a double play.
From there, San Diego kept pouring it on. Tatis homered off Matt Strahm in the sixth to make it 8-2.
Beck Way looked sharp for a stretch, but a Tyler Tolbert error opened the door for another run. Lucas Erceg then entered and immediately surrendered a grand slam to Ty France.
After eight innings, it was 13-2.
The ninth didn’t offer any relief. Tolbert took the mound and the Padres kept swinging, with Merrill hitting his second homer of the day, a two-run shot, and France going deep again to make it 16-2. A bases-loaded hit batter and a two-run single finished the scoring at 19-2.
Caglianone was one of the few bright spots for Kansas City, finishing 2-for-4 with the homer. The Royals fell to 40-60 through 100 games.
They’ll try to reset at home tomorrow when they open a three-game series against the Giants. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CT, with Michael Wacha expected to start.
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