Ty France’s late homer sends game to extras

France broke a scoreless game in the third inning with a single to drive in two runs for the Padres. He later gave the Padres an insurance run with a base hit in the eighth to score Jake Cronenworth from second. The 32-year-old first baseman is hitting .283/.336/.549 with 16 homers and 46 RBI across 269 plate appearances.

The Padres scored 11 times in the final two innings, with the last six runs coming off position player Tyler Tolbert in the ninth. France’s slam came off Lucas Erceg in the eighth. It was his second career slam. He’d been without one in 78 career plate appearances with the bases loaded coming into the season, but he’s had two in 11 chances this year. He also now has three two-homer games this year after racking up just two in his first seven seasons. He mostly just started against lefties initially, but it’s now been a month since he was left out of the Padres’ lineup as a healthy scratch. He’s batting .275/.335/.537 in 243 plate appearances.

France broke a 7-7 knot with a homer to left field to give San Diego the 8-7 lead and ultimately the victory. The 31-year-old has been a surprising source of power for the Padres in 2026, as he’s up to 11 homers on the campaign with an excellent .490 slugging percentage. Skepticism is understandable, but don’t forget that France was a solid option not that long ago. It’s not insane to think he’s refinding that form in his return to his first organization.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine night off for the versatile 32-year-old. Cronenworth had started every other game during the week at either first base or second base. Ty France will start at first base and will bat sixth for the Padres against Blue Jays’ right-hander Shane Bieber.

France is back at first base and hitting fifth after being hit by a pitch on the wrist over the weekend. The 31-year-old was able to come off the bench during Sunday’s series finale against the Dodgers after X-rays came back negative for any fractures. It doesn’t appear to be a serious concern moving forward.

France was OK afterwards and went on to finish the game at first base. He’ll probably be in the San Diego lineup Monday against a lefty.

France left Friday’s game with a left wrist contusion that he sustained when he was hit by a pitch. He’s still considered day-to-day and it isn’t anything that’s expected to require a trip to the injured list. Gavin Sheets will once again cover first base in his absence while Miguel Andujar serves as the Padres’ designated hitter and will bat seventh against Dodgers’ right-hander Emmet Sheehan.

X-rays were negative after France was hit by a pitch during Friday’s game, and he’s day-to-day. The Padres have Gavin Sheets at first base and Miguel Andujar DHing tonight.

Padres manager Craig Stammen told reporters late Friday that France will undergo precautionary imaging after being hit on the hand and jamming it a bit later in the contest. He slugged a three-run homer off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki in San Diego’s lopsided series-opening win. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get some time off this weekend.

France’s homer was a 372-footer to left in the second inning, which gave the Padres their only runs through seven. With Nick Castellanos gone and Miguel Andujar rightfully taking a backseat of late, France has started nine of the Padres’ last 10 games. He’s hitting .265/.307/.503 for an .810 OPS that is easily the high mark among the Padres’ semi-regulars. Next on the list is Gavin Sheets way down at .751.