IT’S ONLY BEEN a week since the San Diego Padres acquired sluggers Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury, along with closing pitcher Josh Hader.
Those deals rocked the major leagues and seemed to seal San Diego’s fate as a playoff contender.
Those seven days have felt like an eternity for some Padres fans. The Friar Faithful watched the team get swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers and lose five games in a row.
This newly rebuilt powerhouse lineup has been 2-5 since August 3. This is a group that’s supposed to light up the scoreboard, but so far has shot off few fireworks.
Nobody’s panicking. Manny Machado contributed a walk-off home run to power the Padres past the San Francisco Giants Tuesday night. And Soto notched his first home run for the team.
Fans are still flocking to Petco Park with high hopes. More than 20 games have sold out this year.
To gauge the public pulse, San Diego Sun contributing photographer Sal Giametta went to Petco Park to get fan closeups. Look for two things in his portraiture:
- Cautious optimism.
- Judging by the omnipresence of #23 jerseys at Petco, anticipation of the return to the field by face-of-the-team star Fernando Tatis Jr.
All photos by Sal Giametta. |
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Padres home schedule in August
August 10: San Francisco Giants, 1:10 p.m.
August 18-21: Washington Nationals (the return of Luke Voit)
August 23-24: Cleveland Guardians
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