By the time first pitch rolled around to start their weekend series against the Giants in San Francisco, the Padres knew the Braves and Mets ... the two teams closest to them in the playoff hunt ... had dispatched of the Dodgers and Phillies, the two teams with the best records in the National League.
So, winning to keep those other clubs at arm's length would be mighty beneficial.
It took them four pitches to get a lead they would never give up.
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for the 3rd straight game and Dylan Cease was fabulous over 6.0 innings of a 5-0 win to open a 3-game set in the Bay Area. With Cease getting the ball against fellow All-Star Logan Webb most folks were thinking it would be a pitchers duel. Only one of them looked like an ace.
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Webb allowed a leadoff single to Luis Arraez, who had three more hits on the night, then Tatis Jr. hammered a 2-run homer deep over the centerfield wall, a 433-foot blast that came off the bat at 109 MPH. That was just the start of Webb's woes.
Manny Machado singled and scored on a double by Xander Bogaerts to put the Friars on top 3-0. Webb only lasted four innings and allowed four runs, one of which scored on a throwing error by himself.
Cease took the advantage and proceeded to look like a future Cy Young Award winner. In the 3rd inning he punched out Donovan Walton for his 1,000th career strikeout, then got an early start on the road to 2,000. Cease struck out the side and finished his night with 10 punchies in 6.0 dominant innings.
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A trio of relievers, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam, and Jeremiah Estrada each posted a bagel to keep the shutout intact and, thanks to the Diamondbacks losing at home to the Brewers, moving the Friars back into the top National League Wild Card spot. San Diego has a 0.5 game lead on Arizona for that 4th seed with the Mets, who own the 6th and final playoff spot, 1.5 games back.
The Padres can win the series on Saturday evening when Joe Musgrove takes the mound against Mason Black.
