Manny Machado logs 2,000th career hit, then belts homer in Padres' loss

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jul 8, 2025

Published in Baseball

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Manny Machado wasted no time making history.

With singles in his first two at-bats against the Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen, Machado reached 2,000 hits in his career.

A single off the glove of diving Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo leading off the fourth inning is the hit that got Machado to the historic mark, and it brought the crowd at Petco Park to its feet while Machado stood at first base smiling.

Gallen threw the ball into the Padres dugout, where teammates and coaches cheered as they looked out toward Machado at first base.

As the ovation continued, with some Diamondbacks players clapping along, Machado doffed his helmet and acknowledged the crowd while turning to face every direction. He then waved to the area behind home plate where his wife and toddler son sit before play resumed.

Machado had lined a single at 111 mph into left field in the first inning for hit No. 1,999. He would get hit No. 2,001 with an eighth-inning home run. Despite hit hot showing, the Padres fell 6-3 to the Diamondbacks in the opener of a four-game series at Petco Park.

Those in attendance Monday will recall the scene for years, perhaps even as they sit on the grass in Cooperstown, N.Y., on the day Machado is inevitably enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

A plaque with his likeness with an interlocking “SD” on his cap hanging on the wall in the museum now seems a mere matter of time and of his remaining relatively healthy.

Machado is the 268th player in MLB history to reach 2,000 hits and the 79th to have at least 350 home runs among those hits. His 357 homers rank 92nd all-time.

He turned 33 on Sunday and is just the 12th player to ever reach both 2,000 hits and 350 homers by his age-32 season. (A player’s age is considered to be the age he is by June 30 of a given season.)

The other 11 to have reached the 2,000/350 plateau so quickly include eight Hall of Famers and two players who will almost certainly be enshrined the first year they are eligible. The other player on that list is Alex Rodriguez, whose alleged PED use kept him from being voted into the Hall.

With his grandest Petco Park moment so far behind him, Machado has 8½ seasons to add more.

He is one of just five active players with 2,000 hits. Along with the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (2,357) and the Astros’ Jose Altuve (2,323), who are both 35, Machado has a chance to reach 3,000 hits.

Speaking last week about the potential quest to become a member of the 3,000-hit club, which currently has just 33 members, Machado said: “I mean, that’s the goal. … I’m here for eight more years. So there ain’t no stopping until that’s over.”

Monday’s home run gave him 951 hits with the Padres, which ranks fifth all-time.

Already the franchise’s home run leader, with 182, he is on track to finish second behind Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in virtually every other major offensive category.

That would be appropriate in that by 2033 Machado will have played 15 seasons with the team. That will rank second among position players behind Gwynn’s 20 and third among all players behind Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman (16) and Gwynn.

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