ARLINGTON, Texas — Jurickson Profar learned he would be an All-Star for the first time in his career on Wednesday while preparing to play inside the newish ballpark across the street from the one he called home the first seven years of his major league career.
He was signed by the Rangers out of Curacao, came up with the Rangers and played for the Rangers — and felt like he didn’t get the opportunity to show who he was with the Rangers.
“I never really got a chance to really play here,” he said Wednesday night. “I got injured. I missed two years of baseball. I came back, and I didn’t play much. I had a really good season in 2018. But I got traded. I didn’t really have a chance to show all the fans here that were always rooting for me.”
He gave them a glimpse of what he has become.
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “I did.”
Profar singled and scored a run, homered and threw out a runner at home to get the Padres on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Rangers.
It was a one-game encapsulation of the season so far, a reminder that the Padres would not be winning without him.
They are winning, heading home after a 4-2 road trip back to a season-high five games over .500, at 48-43, having won 11 of their past 14 games.
It is virtually never about just one player, and it wasn’t all about Profar on Thursday.
Donovan Solano drove in profar with a double and scored after a double.
All around, the Padres and Rangers turned in a fine display of America’s pastime on the nation’s birthday.
One of the greatest pitchers in baseball history and a pitcher in his first year as a full-time starter dueled for a time. A left fielder in his first season and a left fielder in his 11th season took would-be runs away and put runs on the scoreboard. There were fine other fine catches and other clutch hits.
The Padres handed Max Scherzer (1-2, 2.70) a loss for the fourth time in his past seven starts against them. It was the fifth time in those seven starts his team has lost.
This is an accomplishment against one of 92 pitchers to ever win at least 215 games and a pitcher with more career strikeouts than all but 10 other men.
Michael King, however, got the win on Thursday.
King began the day five innings from tying his career high in innings in a season and went 5⅓ innings, departing after Corey Seager doubled and Nathaniel Lowe walked with one out in the sixth inning and the Padres up 2-0.
Jeremiah Estrada relieved King and got an out before surrendering a single to Wyatt Langford that drove in Seager.
Estrada worked a scoreless seventh, Adrián Mórejon a scoreless eighth and Robert Suarez a scoreless ninth for his second save in two nights and 22nd of the season.
The Padres added a run in the seventh when Solano led off the inning by ripping his second double off Scherzer and moved to second on Secherzer’s second wild pitch of the game. Solano was stuck at second after a groundout by David Peralta that also ended Scherzer’s day, but Ha-Seong Kim lined a sacrifice fly off reliever José Ureña that made it 3-1.
The Padres would have scored at least a couple more runs if Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford had not leaped to catch a fly ball by Kim at the top of the wall that appeared it would be a two-run homer (and would have at least been an RBI double) in the second inning and then thrown out a runner at home in the fourth.
After Profar singled and scored on Solano’s double in the top of the fourth, the Rangers would have tied the game if Profar had not thrown out a runner in the bottom of the fourth.
It was Profar’s homer in the sixth off Scherzer put the Padres up 2-0.