Padres find ways to do just enough, take series from Angels

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Apr 19, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The San Diego Padres got away with a lot and took advantage of the few opportunities they were given Sunday while squeaking out a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

In the end, the difference was the fill-in heroics by seldom-used outfielder Bryce Johnson and rookie reliever Bradgley Rodriguez and another dominant save by Mason Miller.

The Padres scored once in the fourth inning on a pair of singles and a stolen base and once in the sixth on a pair of walks and a single to take a 2-0 lead.

Manager Craig Stammen had to try a different combination to get that lead to Miller, as Jason Adam and Adrian Morejón threw a bunch of pitches less than 24 hours earlier while helping close out a 4-1 victory.

Stammen had to turn to his bullpen at the start of the sixth inning, too, after Michael King walked four and hit a batter in his five scoreless innings.

Ron Marinaccio made it through the fifth despite walking two batters and having a runner at second with one out.

The Angels did finally turn a runner in scoring position after Josh Lowe doubled against Kyle Hart to start the seventh inning.

A hit batter and sacrifice bunt followed, and Bradgley Rodriguez replaced Hart with runners at second and third.

A groundout by Zach Neto scored Lowe before Mike Trout was intentionally walked, and Rodriguez ended the inning by getting Nolan Schanuel on a fly ball to center field.

The 22-year-old rookie right-hander then breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth inning, striking out cleanup hitter Jorge Soler, getting a popup from Yoan Moncada and striking out Jo Adell.

Miller retired the Angels in order to lock down his eighth save and the Padres’ 13th victory in their past 15 games and fifth consecutive series win.

King allowed just one hit and lowered his ERA to 2.38, sixth best in the National League, but he labored to get as far as he did. He became the first Padres pitcher this season to throw more than 95 pitches. Of his 105 pitches, 63 (60%) were strikes. He was ahead 0-1 against just eight of the 20 batters he faced.

King was helped in the first inning when he picked off Schanuel on an ill-advised steal attempt and aided by Luis Campusano throwing out Neto attempting to steal second in the fourth.

That eliminated two of the four batters King walked. And he was able to do what he often does, locking in when men are on.

King entered the game allowing a .467 on-base percentage with the bases empty and a .170 OBP with men on. Opponents were batting .097 with runners in scoring position.

The Angels got two runners in scoring position against King but were hitless in four at-bats with them there.

The Padres were not much better, going 2 for 6 with runners on second and/or third base.

Angels rookie Walbert Ureña, a hard-throwing sinkerballer making his first big-league start, worked into the seventh inning having allowed just one run. That is when he issued his first two walks, which ended his day.

His quality start was the MLB-high 12th thrown against the Padres this season.

Ureña retired the first eight batters he faced before Johnson’s double with two outs in the third inning.

It was in the fourth that the Padres briefly got to Ureña when Fernando Tatis Jr. lined the first pitch of the inning into right field for a single, stole second and scored on Xander Bogaerts’ two-out single grounded through the middle of the infield.

A single by Gavin Sheets put runners at the corners before Miguel Andujar grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Ureña, who made two relief appearances for the Angels at the beginning of the season before building up his pitch count in a pair of Triple-A starts, retired the Padres in order in the fifth and sixth and was at just 79 pitches when he walked Bogaerts and Sheets on nine pitches to start the seventh.

After Angels reliever Sam Bachman got a pop-out by Andujar and stuck out pinch-hitter Jake Cronenworth, Johnson went the other way through the left side of the infield with a single on an 0-2 pitch to drive in Bogaerts.

The top of the seventh ended on Ramón Laureano’s strikeout.

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