When a team is struggling it looks to its leaders to set things right. On Friday night the Padres captain lived up to his responsibility. Manny Machado launched a 9th inning missile into the left field seats at Truist Park in Atlanta to give the Padres a 2-1 win over the Braves,

The Padres stole 23 bases over their first 15 games, tied for the second most in the majors in that span. It helped, of course, when players were getting on base far more consistently early in the season. Still, San Diego’s base-stealing game has largely ground to a halt.