The San Diego Padres have one of the most star-laden lineups in baseball, but it was the unheralded bottom of the order that gave the team a win Monday night (SD 5, ARI 4). No. 8 hitter David Dahl and No. 9 hitter Ha-seong Kim clubbed back-to-back homers against Arizona Diamondbacks closer Scott McGough to give San Diego a stunning walk-off win.
Below is Dahl's game-tying homer and Kim's game-winning homer. This is the first time in baseball history the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters hit back-to-back home runs to tie and then win a game.
"David Dahl hit the tying home run and I was just wanting to keep that momentum going," Kim told the Associated Press. "And then I had a great pitch to hit and I was able to walk it off. I'm kind of sorry for David that I took all the spotlight, but he hit a great tying home run that was able to set me up for a great moment. Giving the team the win was the most important thing."
Dahl, in fact, did not even start Monday's game. After the D-Backs took a 4-3 lead on Evan Longoria's homer in the top of the ninth, Dahl pinch-hit for Rougned Odor, who started in right field for the first time in his career. Dahl went deep to tie the game, then Kim won it, his first walk-off hit since leaving Korea to join the Padres three years ago.
The top of San Diego's lineup did its part as well. Leadoff hitter Trent Grisham went 1 for 3 with a walk. No. 2 hitter Juan Soto hit his first homer of the season and walked twice. No. 3 hitter Manny Machado had a two-out RBI single. No. 4 hitter Xander Bogaerts doubled as well. He has a hit in all five games as a Padres.
In the end, though, the bottom of the lineup picked the Padres up, and nudged the team to 3-2 in the early days of the new season.
