Tatis cheered in Petco Park return, Kim homers as Padres win

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits, scored once and fired up the crowd in his return to Petco Park, and Ha-Seong Kim hit a tiebreaking three-run homer as the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 on Monday night for their third straight win.

The crowd was already in a festive mood for Tatis' first home game since Sept. 26, 2021, when Kim sent fans into a frenzy when he homered to left field off Alex Young with two outs in the fifth inning for a 6-3 lead.

After Kim scored, Tatis placed a sombrero on his head, a reprise of the celebrations the Padres started when they hit six home runs in a 16-11 win against San Francisco on Saturday in the thin air of Mexico City. Tatis bought the sombrero at the team hotel Friday night before the two-game series, which the Padres swept.

Juan Soto and Manny Machado each had a two-run hit and Trent Grisham also had three hits for the Padres. Blake Snell (1-4) pitched around trouble for six innings.

Tatis drew loud cheers several times Monday night, including when he sprinted onto the field for pregame warmups. At the start of the game, he ran out to his position in right field, bowed to the fans and took off his cap and whipped his dreadlocks back and forth before replacing his cap.

“It feels great, amazing, just to be out there, back with the fans, performing well in front of them...