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San Diego Padres star Manny Machado exited the game against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. The former MVP candidate left after experiencing some discomfort in his right calf.
Machado and the Padres had a blazing start to the season, winning three games on the bounce. They took advantage of the Braves who missed their core pieces such as Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider.
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"Manny Machado exited tonight's game with right calf tightness, per the Padres, after exhibiting apparent discomfort during this at bat," MLB tweeted.
Machado got hurt while taking an at-bat from Spencer Schwellenbach in the fourth inning. He was checked by the team and subsequently replaced by Jose Iglesias in the next inning.
San Diego skipper Mike Shildt remained optimistic about Machado's chances of returning for the series closer on Sunday.
"Manny looks like he's going to be fine," Shildt said after the game, via Padres reporter AJ Cassavell.
San Diego Padres off to a 3-0 start to the season
The San Diego Padres are one of the five teams in MLB that remain undefeated. The Friars have kept the Atlanta Braves at bay as they've claimed all the spoils for their first series of the season.
San Diego has lofty expectations this season as it aims to make a deep postseason run despite the LA Dodgers being considered the favorites to run away with the NL West crown.
It should be noted that among all the teams that the reigning World Series champion faced last season in the playoffs, the Padres gave LA the most trouble as their NLDS was a classic that needed all five games to decide a winner.
The Dodgers' personnel and players sounded off after the season that San Diego gave them the hardest challenge during their dominant title run.
This season, the Padres have lived up to the billing as they triumphed over the Braves on Opening Day 7-4. They followed it up with 4-3 and 1-0 victories.
Leading the charge for San Diego are Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. Merrill already has four RBIs on five base hits with one run scored in nine at-bats. Meanwhile, Tatis has a home run and five base hits in 12 at-bats.
