Mexico City lived its first Major League game this Saturday and it was a true bat show. The San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants met at the Alfredo Harp Helú stadium in the Aztec capital, and both took advantage of the height (7,300 feet) to sound the woods in a festival of 27 runs, 30 hits, 20 extra-base hits and 11 home runs.
The Padres took the victory with a 16-11 record, after scoring at least one run in 7 of their 8 offensive opportunities. Nelson Cruz led the attack of the friars and became the second longest-serving baseball player (42 years and 302 days) in history with a game of 5 hits, second only to Pete Rose (he gave 5 hits in 1986 at the age of 45 119 days).
Cruz led off the scoring with a single in the leadoff inning and returned to the charge in the third with a long 442-foot drive through center field, making him the franchise’s longest-serving player with a home run. The record in this regard was held by Rickey Henderson, who in 2001 homered with San Diego at 42 years and 283 days.
The Dominican finished the game with 5 hits, 1 home run, 1 stolen base and 4 runs scored, numbers that no player over 40 years of age had achieved in Major League history.
Manny Machado (2 home runs, 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs), Fernando Tatis Jr. and Trent Grishman, both with two RBIs and runs scored, also contributed to the Padres’ display, who hit 6 balls beyond limits.
Among these home runs there was a very special one for Xander Bogaerts, who became the first MLB player to hit home runs in four different countries, according to the data by Sarah Langs. The Curaçao shortstop had homered in the United States, Canada (in visits to the Toronto Blue Jays) and in England, during the London series between the Yankees and Boston in 2019.
Although the Padres’ victory was uncontested, they entered the final third a run down, largely because San Francisco also clinched five home runs. In this way, the two teams tied for the most players (10) with at least one homer in the same game, established by the Mets and Phillies in 2014 and equaled in 2019 by Arizona and again the Phillies.
Of the 12 pitchers who took the mound at Alfredo Harp Helú, only 4 did not allow a run, with the jackpot going to Tom Cosgrove and Nick Martínez, who picked up the win and the save, respectively.
This is not the first time that an MLB game has been held in Mexico, as Monterrey hosted games on the American professional circuit in 1996, 1999 and 2018. This series between the Padres and Giants in the Aztec capital is part of the baseball internationalization program that Major League Baseball intends to carry out in various countries.
During the present century, MLB games have been held in Puerto and Japan. In addition, in 2014 the Opening Day between Arizona and the Dodgers took place in Sydney, Australia, while in 2019 the Yankees and Boston traveled to London. MLB’s plan will try to develop regular season matches in Paris, the Dominican Republic and Asia, as well as return to Puerto Rican lands in the coming years.
