SAN DIEGO — Manny Machado drilled a ball into the second deck in left field. After Taylor Rogers wasted seven one-hit innings from Joe Musgrove, Jorge Alfaro walked off a 2-1 Padres win with a bases-loaded drive into the left-center alley.
Yet none of that, not even a dramatic win over the San Francisco Giants to avoid a three-game skid, meant quite as much Thursday as Jurickson Profar pumping his fist for a sellout crowd of 42,656 as he was carted off the field in the top of the fifth.
Several moments earlier, a collective gasp overtook Petco Park as Profar went to the ground as he attempted to walk off the field under his own power after taking CJ Abrams’ left knee to the jaw in shallow left field. The two collided as the Padres shortstop tracked a pop-up off the bat of the Giants’ Tommy La Stella.
