This is not substantiated by any concrete scientific research but I'm confident saying with a high degree of certainty that if you give Dylan Cease eight runs of support you are going to win that night's baseball game.
The Padres did just that on Saturday night in Colorado and rolled to an 8-3 win over the Rockies, stopping their losing skid at one game and, more importantly, edging them closer to a playoff spot (and maybe even a division title). More on that later.
Cease started off the night with no-hit stuff. He didn't allow a knock until the 5th inning and kept the Rockies off the scoreboard until the 6th inning, when he allowed a 3-run homer to Michael Toglia. But, by that point it was just too late for the Rockies, even at the hitters paradise that is Coors Field.
The Padres got on the board in the 2nd inning. Manny Machado led off with a double, the first of his four hits on the night. He scored on an RBI single by Jake Cronenworth to make it 1-0 and kick off a fun night for the Friars' bats.
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In the 4th inning reserve outfielder Bryce Johnson singled to left field to score David Peralta. Johnson had a pair of hits and drove in two runs for the first multiple-RBI game of his big league career. Jurickson Profar followed with another RBI single to make it a 4-0 Padres lead.
San Diego got two more on RBI groundouts then plated their 7th run in the 6th inning on an RBI single by Xander Bogaerts that made it 7-0. In the bottom half Cease got himself in trouble with a couple of walks before Toglia's bomb, which prompted manager Mike Shildt to go get his starter and turn it over to the bullpen, which was stellar.
Adrian Morejon got the last out of the 6th then Jason Adam, Tanner Scott, and Jeremiah Estrada each threw a scoreless inning. The final run of the night came on a solo homer by Luis Campusano in the 8th inning. San Diego can win the series on Sunday afternoon behind Joe Musgrove, who takes the mound against Rockies rookie Bradley Blalock.
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Oh, and for a little more good news, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks both lost on Saturday so the Padres are now just 2.0 games behind Los Angeles for the National League West division lead and have a 1.0 game advantage on Arizona for the 4th NL Wild Card spot.
