Manny Machado conectó dos hits y fue golpeado con dos lanzamientos en la victoria el sábado 3-1 de los Padres ante Cardenales luego de ambos

Benches cleared as Manny Machado was hit twice in Padres' 3-1 win over Cardinals, intensifying Wild Card race tensions.

The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres are trading unnecessary blows. After the benches cleared on Friday night between the two teams after Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch, Padres third baseman Manny Machado was hit twice in Saturday’s matchup causing yet another bench-clearing incident.

The San Diego Padres started their current road trip versus the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals with a lead over the San Francisco Giants and Cardinals in the Wild Card race. In fact, on July 21 they were 3.5 games up on the Giants, Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.

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Cardinals hit 3 home runs, including a pair of 3-run homers off Yu Darvish in the second inning to win high-scoring series opener

Cease’s name has come up in trade rumors, largely because he’s in his final year under contract and is making nearly $14 million. Theoretically, the Padres could trade Cease for controllable pieces, while freeing up money to spend elsewhere on the roster.

As usual, Preller will be one of the prime executives to watch at the deadline, pricing every available player, including his own.