Manny Machado’s 1,000th RBI Comes ‘Where It All Began’ at Camden Yards in Baltimore

“Doing it where it all started,” Machado said. “I have my first here and my thousandth here.”

Machado began his Major League career in Baltimore in 2012 and played there until he was traded in 2018. He has been playing in the National League since then, so he hasn’t been there much.

“The stadium has changed since Manny has been here,” manager Mike Shildt said.

That’s true — the wall in left field is much higher and much farther back than it used to be. But Machado’s drive went 413 feet to right-center field. According to Statcast, it would have disappeared from 24 of the 30 parks in the majors.

“For me, it’s always been gap-to-gap, so I try to keep it that way,” Machado said. “There are guys that like to pull and come here and that wall, you see the depth, it’s pretty far back. You just try to stick to your approach, which is your strength.”

San Diego is 31-22 away from home and 26-28 at home. During that trip, the Padres took two of three games at AL Central-leading Cleveland, then swept Washington, with Dylan Cease pitching a no-hitter during the series.

They are now just one win away from AL East leader Baltimore.

“We’ve been playing really good baseball,” Machado said. “It’s not about being on the road, being home. That’s just the narrative that people want to follow, but we’re just trying to play really good baseball.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb