When the San Diego Padres allowed right-hander Brandon Maurer to stay in the game and face Pedro Alvarez Monday night, the matchup had another layer beyond the platoon advantage.
Padres interim manager Pat Murphy is Alvarez’s father-in-law. Alvarez is married to Murphy’s daughter, Keli. After Alvarez’s walk-off single drove in the winning run, Murphy tried to keep a singular focus.
“You’re thinking about your own team right now,” Murphy said. “Pedro is going to be fine whether that ball got caught or whether it didn’t. He’s going to be OK. I was hoping we’d catch it and play the 10th.