SAN DIEGO — San Diego slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. hit three homers, hours after saying he would skip the All-Star Home Run Derby because of an ailing shoulder, and the Padres sent the Arizona Diamondbacks to their record 24th straight road loss, 11-5 Friday night.
The dynamic Tatis hit a solo home run off Corbin Martin in the first inning and another solo drive in the second off Riley Smith. Tatis connected again in his third at-bat, a two-run shot off Smith in the fourth.
Tatis got two more chances at becoming the 19th player to share the record of four homers in a game.
With the crowd at Petco Park standing and chanting, the 22-year-old shortstop Tatis hit a sharp single in the seventh inning and then grounded out in the eighth.
Tatis is tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of Toronto and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels for the major league lead with 25 home runs.
This was the first three-homer game of Tatis’ career. The last player to hit four in a game was J.D. Martinez, doing it for the Diamondbacks on Sept. 4, 2017, against the Dodgers.
Tatis leads the NL with 54 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
The All-Star Home Run Derby will be held at Denver’s Coors Field on July 12.
In saying he was out of the competition, Tatis cited his left shoulder, which he said is at 75% following an injury early this season. He sustained a partial dislocation during a hard swing against San Francisco.
Tatis went on the 10-day injured list and returned April 16, then left last Saturday’s game against Cincinnati after diving for a ball at shortstop and re-injuring the shoulder.
While Tatis came close to making history, the Diamondbacks continued their dubious run. Arizona hasn’t won on the road in exactly two months, with its last victory away from Chase Field coming on April 25 when Madison Bumgarner threw seven no-hit innings to win in Atlanta.
Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth also homered for the Padres. Nick Ramirez (1-1) got the win.
Martin (0-3) took the loss.
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