📰 NEWS FLASH: Manny Machado Reached 163—and Suddenly the Padres’ Past and Future Collided ⚡ .NL

For half a century, the number stood untouched.

Generations of Padres fans grew up knowing it. Players passed through San Diego, stars came and went, and still the franchise home run record remained anchored in another era.

Until Friday night, when Manny Machado stepped into the box and changed the tone of the building.

Twice.

Machado homered two times in the Padres’ 5–1 win over the San Francisco Giants, tying Nate Colbert’s long-standing franchise record of 163 career home runs.

The first came early—a solo shot that felt routine by Machado standards. The second came with intent.

Leading off the eighth inning, Machado drove the ball into the second deck in left field, a no-doubt swing that erased 50 years of separation in one violent arc.

The crowd of 42,595 didn’t just cheer. It paused—then erupted.

“It’s a special accomplishment,” Machado said afterward. “To do it at home, in front of these fans, makes it that much more special.”

That detail mattered.

Records can fall anywhere. But some moments are meant for specific settings. The bubble gum. The slow turn around second base. The awareness that everyone in the stadium understood what they’d just seen.

Manager Mike Shildt didn’t overcomplicate it. He called it a “big boy home run.” And the phrase stuck, because it captured more than distance—it captured authority.

Machado tied Colbert’s mark with 20 games still remaining in his sixth season with the Padres. Colbert needed six full seasons from 1969 to 1974 to reach the same total.

Machado reached it in a different era, under different pressure, carrying expectations that didn’t exist when the franchise was young.

This wasn’t a chase built on nostalgia. It was built on consistency.

Machado’s second homer of the night was his 25th of the season and added to a career that now spans 338 home runs across 13 years. Forty-two multi-homer games since his 2012 debut.

Production in Baltimore. A brief, high-stakes stint in Los Angeles. And then San Diego—where his career found permanence.

Teammates weren’t surprised.

“I mean, he’s Manny Machado,” said winning pitcher Michael King. “All of it’s very much expected. He changes games.”

That’s the part that doesn’t always show up in box scores.

When Machado is going, the Padres feel different. Giants manager Bob Melvin—who managed Machado in San Diego the last two seasons—put it bluntly: “When he’s going good, this team is going good.

This is his team.”

Friday night played out like proof.

Machado’s first homer capped a chaotic opening inning that gave the Padres a quick lead.

His RBI single in the fifth extended it. And his second homer erased the remaining distance between legacy and ownership.

Nate Colbert’s record wasn’t diminished. It was joined.

But the context has shifted.

Machado didn’t just tie a number—he tied himself to the franchise’s spine. In a city that has waited decades for permanence, this felt like something closer to inheritance.

There are still games left. The record will almost certainly fall outright. But even before it does, the conversation has changed.

The Padres’ history no longer belongs to the past alone.

It’s standing at third base, chewing gum, and reminding everyone—quietly, emphatically—whose moment this is.

And with October approaching, the question now isn’t whether Manny Machado will stand alone at the top.

It’s what happens to this team when he does.