SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 07: Grant McCray #58 of the San Francisco Giants tosses his bat after hitting a three-run home run against the San Diego Padres during the second inning at Petco Park on September 07, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
The Padres are in a stretch where they'll play the Giants six times in eight games and not have to face former Friar Blake Snell one time. Avoiding the reigning Cy Young winner during that gauntlet might make one think the Baseball Gods are smiling upon San Diego.
But, they still have to deal with All-Star Logan Webb twice, and that guy is pretty good, too.
Webb ensnared the Padres by inducing three double play balls and San Francisco got a power surge from rookie outfielder Grant McCray in a 6-3 win on Saturday night.
McCray hit a 3-run homer off Dylan Cease in the 2nd inning and a 2-run blast off Yuki Matsui in the 9th inning for the first multi-homer game of his big league career and the loss makes things a little more interesting in the National League Wild Card chase.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
San Diego owns the 4th seed and has a 2.0 game lead on the Diamondbacks, but a new contender has emerged. The Mets have won nine straight games to knock the Braves out of the final spot. New York owns the season tiebreaker against the Friars so if they end up with the same record it would be the Mets who get the higher seed.
The Padres can still win the series on Sunday afternoon with Joe Musgrove on the mound against Giants rookie right-hander Spencer Bivens.
