Randy Vásquez threw a career-high seven innings in outlasting former Padres right-hander Seth Lugo, Xander Bogaerts was superb at shortstop to support a pitching staff that could afford few mistakes and Shildt pulled all the right strings, beginning with asking Iglesias to hit for Cronenworth with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

Jose Iglesias tied the game with two-run, two-out, bases-loaded pinch-hit single in the seventh inning and then drove in the winning run with a grounder in the ninth for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 to take two of three.

The Padres signed Jose Iglesias precisely for a day like this one. The veteran infielder played only three innings on Sunday afternoon. But did he ever make those three innings count?