From Section 303 at Petco Park – The Padres defeat the Braves 7-4 on Opening Day of the 2025 MLB Season; in front of 45,568 fans, the biggest Opening Day crowd in Petco Park history.

There’s just something about seeing Petco in its full glory that is so special. Packed to the brim with Padres fans, yellow towels and beers in hands, with a backdrop of buildings so unique, that it truly feels like a little piece of heaven carved out of the Gaslamp just for us. A perfect day to beat the Braves at the old ballpark.

Some touching moments pregame to kickoff the festivities as well, as the Padres held a moment of silence for the late great Rickey Henderson.

“The Greatest of All-Time” left us far too soon, and he will always be loved and remembered by Padres and Baseball fans alike.

Another touching moment occurred when they game finally began, as Jurickson Profar received a standing ovation in his return home to Petco Park.

Rightfully deserved too, Profar felt like he was “one of our own,” even though he had not worn the Brown & Yellow until his 7th season in the Major Leagues. He quickly became a fan favorite for not only exceeding expectations on the field, but by also being the first one to get into a scrum or an argument with anyone on the field wearing Dodger blue, and for that San Diego will always love him.

Enough of the pregame ceremonies, we’ve waited since October 11, 2024 to see our boys again, it’s time to Play Ball!

1st Inning

What in the world was going on with Michael King and Elias Diaz? My only guess is that King was just amped up for his first ever Opening Day start – as almost every pitcher in baseball would be – and Diaz had a hard time adjusting to catching him. But it got to the point where Diaz was sliding across the entire dirt behind home just to get in front of the wicked movement on King’s pitches. King almost survived the bases loaded jam he got himself into, but Ozzie Albies beat the throw to first by a hair to avoid the double play, Atlanta goes up 1-0.

Quick strike back: Fernando roping one out to right, Arraez moves him over, Manny walks and El Nino decides to steal third and is in safely (something I think all Padres fans are wanting to see more of from Fernando, being as aggressive on the base paths as he was when he first broke into the league), Manny ends up strolling into second without a throw for his first stolen base, and then Merrill doesn’t try to do too much and just puts the ball in play to center to knock them both in. The small ball approach to the top of this lineup puts the Friars up 2-1.

2nd Inning

Not much in this one, King settles in with two strikeouts.

But so does Sale, who Ks two Padres as well.

3rd Inning

King starting to get into a groove, but then comes the Marcell Ozuna at-bat. He walks him on 4 pitches, and then Ozzie Albies hits a no-doubter out to the right field bleachers for a 2-run yack. Braves go up 3-2…the fan who caught the ball threw it back onto the field, almost getting it all the way to the infield. He was escorted out by security, under a wave of boos for having him removed, only to be returned a few batters later to a thunderous applause.

Unfortunately, the day ends for Michael King, as he can’t escape the 3rd Inning in his first Opening Day start. His final line – 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K … not ideal at all, but there were still some positives in this outing. His stuff looked nasty, and it must’ve been a tough decision for Mike Shildt to pull his ace that early in the game, but the walks and pitch count killed him – 76 pitches/ 41 strikes / 35 balls. To quote Lou Brown from Major League, “I think you can go get him now.”

Alek Jacob comes in and gets Arcia to go down swinging.

This Swinging Friars strike back again: Machado hits a ground rule double, Xander gets a knock out to left, and Merrill doesn’t try and play “hero ball”, he just puts it in play to get Manny home to tie the game at 3-3.

4th Inning

What a back-and-forth ball game this one was. Jakob starts settling in with a couple of ground outs, and then one changeup leaks back in over the dish and Austin Riley munches it. Solo shot puts Atlanta up 4-3.

I don’t know if that shook up Jakob, or if it was just the heart of the Braves order after Riley, but he gets pulled from the game after two more singles by Olson and Ozuna.

Yuki Matsui comes in, and a nice snag by Brandon Lockridge in front of the Western Metal building ends the inning.

Bottom of the Padres order went down with ease against Sale.

5th Inning

Jackson Merrill, Hang A Star!

I was able to grab this on the replay off the big screen in left…look at the hops! It may or may not have been going out, but who cares, this kid is special.

More small ball for the Pads in the bottom half: Tatis single, the 3x defending batting champ throws a sac bunt, Fernando steals third, but Ks for Manny and Xander end the inning.

6th Inning

Jeremiah Estrada comes in, and sends the crowd into a frenzy with his walkout song.

Chris Sale’s day comes to a close – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 7 K … some pretty decent damage against the reigning Cy Young champ.

7th Inning

I don’t have the stats, but there’s something about the “7th Inning Stretch” that gets the home team going. I swear, in all my years watching baseball, the home team’s odds of scoring a run in the bottom of the 7th always seem to skyrocket. I’ll look into the data and see what I can find on past “post-7th inning stretch numbers.”

Gavin Sheets doesn’t care what has happened in the past though, this dude is on a mission. After a great spring, Sheets takes a 3-2 Fastball to dead center for the solo shot to tie the game 4-4. Win Probability jumps up 23.2% in the Padres favor on that one, from 35.4% to 58.6%. Big time mash by Gavin.

The fans thought so too, it wouldn’t be a day ballgame in San Diego without a beach ball making its way onto the field. Have to love it!

Back to the small ball: Elias Diaz with the single, and Fernando on fire with another knock. Arraez doing the dirty work again, this time in the form of a sac fly that brings in Jason Heyward to give the Padres a 5-4 lead.

This sequence that came after the Sheets’ dinger added another 25.9% to the win probability for the Padres, with Arraez’s sac fly only accounting for 3.7% of that…The small ball approach is working.

Manny curves a double down the third base line to tack on some insurance for the Pads to make it 6-4.

Xander gets intentionally walked, which leads to the double steal by Machado and Bogaerts.

Another situation for Merrill with RISP, and once again, the kid isn’t trying to be the hero…he’s just trying to do what’s needed to tack on. Another sac fly drives in Manny to make it 7-4.

The 7th inning was some incredible team baseball to watch: A dinger, a few knocks, some sac hits, fun times had by all not wearing gray uniforms.

8th Inning

Jason Adam locks it down.

Grant Holmes makes quick work with the bottom of the order.

9th Inning

Robert Suarez earns his first Save of the 2025 season.

Just a great day to be at the ballpark, not just for the spectacle that is Opening Day, but to see that this team that was so exciting to watch last season, is still in full stride. A great balance of hitting and pitching, with a ton of situational awareness.

After an offseason spent wondering why they weren’t spending money like they used to, ownership drama dominating the headlines, and fear and loathing of the team in blue up the I-5, the Swinging Friars were able to drown out those winter worries in a matter of 9 innings.

Baseball is back, and it’s as vibrant as ever in the Gaslamp. This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch this season, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Green Line home smelt of urine, but it didn’t matter, because the Pads won.

1 down, 161 to go til October.