How the Padres put together their ‘special’ 11-hit, nine-run 8th

KANSAS CITY – Jake Cronenworth helped the Padres take the lead on Friday, and then his teammates just kept going and going.

San Diego had an eighth inning it will long savor, recording a club-record 11 hits en route to nine runs as the Padres erupted to take an 11-8 victory over the Royals in the series opener at Kauffman Stadium. Trailing 3-2 going into the eighth, manager Mike Shildt saw his hitters put on a textbook display of how to keep the line moving. A two-run single by Cronenworth put San Diego ahead 4-3, and then the tack-on hits and runs mounted — and mounted — as the Padres showed why they entered the game with a Major League-best .288 batting average on the road.

“That was pretty special,” Shildt said. “Just professional at-bats throughout. Just a bunch of guys staying through their swing and having the approach to match it.”

In the decisive eighth inning, Cronenworth reclaimed the lead for San Diego with his two-run single off James McArthur.

“That was a big hit,” Shildt said. “The one that gets you on top is always a big one.”

Then the Padres just kept racking up hits. Luis Arraez lifted his batting average to .342 by going 4-for-5. Cronenworth drove in three runs and joined Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, Donovan Solano and Jackson Merrill with multi-hit games.

“It seems like each guy was just feeding off the last guy,” Cronenworth said. “We’ve had some explosive games like that, though not that many hits in a row. This team is certainly capable of stringing big innings together.”

The nine-run rally and an 11-3 lead didn’t keep San Diego from having some shaky moments in the ninth. The Royals rallied for five runs and forced Shildt to bring on closer Robert Suarez with two outs. After allowing a single to Freddy Fermin that brought the tying run to the plate, Suarez watched as Nelson Velázquez’s bid for a game-tying three-run homer fell just short at the track.

“Thankfully, we had some real estate out there in a bigger park,” Shildt said.

Added Cronenworth with a smile: “It wasn’t a home run in Kansas City. That’s all that matters to us.”