Detroit Tigers vs San Diego Padres — Mar 28, 2026 | AI Prediction & Stats

Expect the Padres’ right-handed core to strike quickly against Framber Valdez, whose heavy sinker keeps the ball in the park but can still be squared up early before he settles. Fernando Tatis Jr. opens the scoring with a first-inning rocket into the left-center gap, and Manny Machado adds an RBI single in the third. Valdez limits further damage by living at the knees, yet Padres persistence pushes across single runs in the fifth (Xander Bogaerts sac fly) and seventh (Jake Cronenworth opposite-field double). Michael King attacks with cutters and a north-south four-seam/changeup mix. Detroit’s lefty trio—Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows—adjust the second time through; Greene plates two with a bases-clearing double in the third and Spencer Torkelson tags a hanging slider for an RBI knock in the fifth. King exits after five, having bent but not broken. The difference comes down to late-inning relief. San Diego turns to Mason Miller for the eighth; his triple-digit fastball is touched for one run on a Javier Báez flare, but Miller strands the tying run. Wandy Peralta and Jeremiah Estrada bridge the gap, handing a one-run edge to the ninth where Miller—pulled double duty after the off-day bullpen shuffle—fans the side for the save. Detroit’s bullpen is sturdy behind Kenley Jansen, yet the extra pitch count on Valdez forces an earlier call to the middle relievers, and Padres manufacture an insurance run in the eighth on a Nick Castellanos sac bunt that catches the Tigers in an overshift. Petco’s spacious alleys favor San Diego’s athletic outfield defense, turning two hard Detroit liners into outs and preserving a narrow 5-4 victory that evens the young series.