Padres Week in Review: Sweep Of Atlanta, Then Dodgers Downer

[Steve Drumwright]

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 4-2

Runs scored last week: 25

Runs allowed last week: 28 (season run differential: minus-13)

Scores

• Game 77 (Monday): Padres 1, Atlanta 0
• Game 78 (Tuesday): Padres 7, Atlanta 6 (10 innings)
• Game 79 (Wednesday): Padres 5, Atlanta 2
• Thursday: Off
• Game 80 (Friday): Padres 7, Dodgers 1
• Game 81 (Saturday): Dodgers 15, Padres 3
• Game 82 (Sunday): Dodgers 4, Padres 2

Week in Review and Highlights

Atlanta series

Game 1: Right-handed starter Michael King got ticked off at himself. That was good news for the Padres. King turned in the best start of the season by any Friars starter, going seven shutout innings, and Manny Machado homered for the second straight game as the Padres opened a big homestand with a 1-0 victory over Atlanta. The reason why this was the best start for the Padres is that it came at a time when the Padres needed a big win and needed a starter to go deep in a game. Coming off a 4⅓-inning outing against the St. Louis Cardinals and five straight subpar outings, King went seven shutout innings for the second time this season (May 18 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers), allowing six hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

The Padres' offense didn't do much, but also didn't need to. Machado had two of the Friars' four hits and also walked. He took right-handed starter Grant Holmes deep leading off the fourth inning, boosting his team-leading homer total to 14 and RBI total to 42. King never had more than one runner on an any inning and handed things over to left-hander Adrian Morejon, who retired all three hitters he faced before yielding to right-handed closer Mason Miller. Miller did run into a little trouble in the ninth, but it came with two outs. Austin Riley singled and pinch-runner Eli White stole second. Miller then walked Dom Smith on a 3-2 pitch before striking out Mike Yastrzemski for his 21st save in as many chances.

Game 2: In a game that started with a bit of deja vu from the Texas Rangers series opener, it came to a conclusion with a reminder from Machado: He is still dangerous. Machado lined the first pitch of the bottom of the 10th inning to center field to score Jackson Merrill from second base for a 7-6 victory over Atlanta to clinch a series victory. Machado had the biggest hit in the game for the third time in four games as he also had a two-run homer in a three-run top of the 10th inning Saturday vs. the Rangers in 6-4 win. But as Machado said after this game, this one was "madcap."

After a scoreless inning by left-hander Wandy Peralta as an opener, right-hander Griffin Canning couldn't even finish the second inning, coughing up four runs on four hits and a walk. He began the second with two singles and a hit batter, then a strikeout and a two-run single by Rowdy Tellez and a second strikeout. But a Michael Harris II double and another walk spelled doom and the end of his day. But the Padres turned the tables on what happened Friday and scored five runs in the bottom of the first with the bottom of the order getting things going, then Samad Taylor putting the Padres ahead with a two-run single for a 5-4 lead.

Despite each allowing a run, left-handers Kyle Hart and Yuki Matsui followed Canning and settled things down over the next 4⅓ innings to give the Friars a chance despite giving up the lead. This had the feel of those April wins as Tatis hit his second Petco Park homer and third of the season in the seventh, a solo drive to center. Miller, who threw 20 pitches Monday, came back and needed only 11 pitches to strike out two of the three hitters in the ninth, so he came back for the 10th, getting another strikeout as he finished that inning in 11 pitches again. Atlanta right-handed closer Raisel Iglesias tried to pull a Miller, but only got one pitch into the 10th when Machado walked it off, with the throw home too late to get Merrill.

Game 3: This was the most surprising series of the season. A sweep of the team that had the best winning percentage in MLB? Yeah, it happened. Now, what do the Padres do with this momentum? Buoyed by a surprise start by left-hander JP Sears, the Padres dumped Atlanta 5-2 win sweep the three-game set. Ty France homered and drove in two runs, while Taylor had a pair of RBIs as the Friars bounced back from losing two of three on the road to the Rangers. Sears was relegated to Triple-A in spring training and posted a 7.99 ERA in the offensive elements of the Pacific Coast League. But Sears put that behind him and, needing some length as he made his season debut with the Padres, and he responded with 5⅔ innings, just the third time in 15 starts this season he had gotten an out in the sixth inning. He allowed two runs on five hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. As it was, Sears turned in the fourth start in the Padres' last 35 games in which a pitcher went that long and allowed three runs or less. It would seem to have earned him another start after right-hander Lucas Giolito (right elbow inflammation) went on the 15-day injured list.

Facing a crafty veteran in left-hander Martin Perez, the Padres' offense came through. France staked the Friars to a 2-0 lead with a solo homer in the third, his ninth of the season, and a sac fly in the fourth. The Padres manufactured another run in the fifth as Tatis walked, Taylor had a bunt single and, following a double steal, Xander Bogaerts singled home Tatis. It could have been more, but Merrill and Miguel Andujar couldn't come through. Atlanta trimmed it to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on a Joey Bart homer, but the Padres got both right back in the bottom of the sixth. France doubled and was bunted to third by Freddy Fermin. Jase Bowen walked and, after a pitching change, stole second. Taylor came through again, singling with two outs to plate France and Bowen. The bullpen did bullpen things after Sears exited, with right-hander David Morgan going 1⅓ perfect innings, Peralta one hit in one inning and right-hander Jason Adam closed things out with Miller unavailable, pitching a perfect ninth for his second save of the season. Now, the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town.

Dodgers series

Game 1: Walker Buehler just does Walker Buehler things when the Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers get together. But for the first time, Buehler did it while wearing a Friars jersey. The right-handed starter was really good for 5⅓ innings and France hit an early three-run homer that helped carry the Padres to a 7-1 victory over their rival. It was the fourth straight victory for the Friars, all coming against teams that entered the series with the best winning percentage in MLB. Buehler helped set the tone by allowing just three hits and a run, while walking three and striking out five. In 10 starts since the beginning of May, Buehler has been very solid, going five innings in all but one. In six of those, he got at least a single out in the fifth, which significantly increases a team's chances of winning that game. Buehler was lifted in the sixth after a walk to Andy Pages and with Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts coming up. Matsui came in and gave up a double to Freeman, with Pages only able to advance to third. After walking Betts intentionally, Matsui got Max Muncy to pop out and Kyle Tucker to fly out to end the threat unscathed.

The Padres' offense continued its recent good work. Machado and Sheets drew leadoff walks in the second inning off right-handed starter Roki Sasaki. After Bogaerts flew out to center, Sheets drilled his opposite-field three-run blast deep into the left-field stands to erase an early 1-0 deficit. While the Padres weren't able to further take advantage of Sasaki's wildness (five walks), that did lead to an early exit and got the Friars into the bullpen. It took until the eighth inning for that work to pay off. Sheets had a one-out single, Bogaerts and France walked to load the bases and Sung-Mun Song broke it open with a two-run single. Rodolfo Duran doubled home another and Tatis capped the four-run rally with an RBI single.

Meanwhile, the bullpen kept the Dodgers at bay, with Adam, Morejon and Peralta tossing scoreless innings. And it made Buehler 7-1 in the Padres-Dodgers series.

Game 2: All you really need to know about this one is that Duran, the 11-year minor-league catcher who made his MLB debut last month, pitched the top of the ninth inning. The Padres gave up their biggest inning of the season and the most runs in a game as the Dodgers steamrolled their way to a 15-3 victory on the strength of a nine-run sixth inning. Right-hander Randy Vasquez took the brunt of the damage. He followed Hart, who served as an opener with two innings and one run, and gave up seven runs (five) earned while only getting one out in the sixth. It didn't help that second baseman Will Wagner booted a ball that trickled into right field. Instead of being the second out of the inning, Freeman scooted home from second with the go-ahead run to make it 2-1. Two batters later, it was 5-1 on Tommy Edman's RBI triple and Tucker's two-run homer. Dalton Rushing and Mookie Betts also homered in the frame as the Dodgers sent 12 batters to the plate. Vasquez has allowed seven runs in back-to-back outings and at least four runs in three of his last four.

Sheets was about the lone offensive highlight, with three hits, including a solo homer, his 13th long ball of the season. The game marked the halfway point of the season, with the Padres at 43-38, just one game off last year's mark at this time.

Game 3: In what was a winnable swing game, even entering the series, the Padres just didn't capitalize on the few opportunities to score that they did have. As a result, the Dodgers came away with a 4-2 victory, taking two out of three games. After looking very good in his start vs. Atlanta to begin the week, King ran into trouble in the fifth inning and his day turned sour. The Dodgers got three runs against King, who allowed four of the first five hitters to reach on a hit batter and three walks to put L.A. up 2-1, then Betts had a two-run single. While it was a catastrophe like the nine-run outburst the day before, it was just as damaging against a team such as the Dodgers, whose bullpen rivals that of the Padres.

Machado continued his excellent run by hitting his team-best 15th homer of the season, a solo shot to left field that tied the game in the fourth inning. After the Dodgers' rally in the fifth, Merrill led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, stole second with one out and scored on Bogaerts' ground single to right to make it 4-2. In the eight, Machado had a leadoff double and France was hit by a pitch, but Bogaerts struck out and Andujar hit into an inning-ending double play. Fermin drew a one-out walk in the ninth, but like the eighth, a double play ended the threat, this time on a Tatis grounder to short.

While the homestand ended with a bit of a thud, the Padres continue their stretch of 17 games in 17 days with a seven-game road trip, with the first three at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs in a rematch of the NL Wild Card Series from last year, before the Padres and Dodgers meet again in L.A. for four games.

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 2-1, 0.79 ERA, 32 games, 21 saves (21 chances), 34 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 13 BB, 66 K, .122 opponent average
• His two-inning outing Tuesday was the first since joining the Padres and first since Sept. 6, 2024, with the A's.
• Has 21 saves, which is tied for second in MLB with Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians has an MLB-best 26 saves.
• Of his 32 appearances, he has 22 with multiple strikeouts.

Random Stats

• The Padres 1-0 win over Atlanta was not only their seventh shutout of the season, but their third of the 1-0 variety. The Padres have eight 1-0 wins since the beginning of 2025, the most in MLB.
• Samad Taylor's 12-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 Monday. It was the longest by a Padre this year and was tied for the third-longest active streak.
• Jason Adam's perfect ninth inning Wednesday was his first since May 27.
• Friday's 7-1 triumph over the Dodgers gave the Padres a positive run differential (316-315) for the first time since May 29. Saturday's result, however, changed that.
• The Padres turned four double plays Friday, tying the single-game high in MLB this season. The Friars last turned four DPs on June 4, 2024, vs. the Los Angeles Angels.
• Nine of Gavin Sheets' 13 homers this season have either tied the game or put the Padres ahead for good.
• Of the Padres' 44 games at Petco Park, 35 have been sellouts, including all six games on this homestand. Saturday's attendance of 45,159 was the third-largest crowd this season
• The Padres honored Spanish-language radio broadcaster Eduardo Ortega for 40 years with the team by having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Transactions

• Tuesday: Placed RHP Lucas Giolito on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation.
• Tuesday: Recalled LHP JP Sears from Triple-A El Paso.
• Tuesday: Activated C Freddy Fermin from the 7-day concussion list.
• Tuesday: Optioned C Blake Hunt to Triple-A El Paso.
• Thursday: Sent 1B Nick Solak outright to Triple-A El Paso. Solak elected free agency.
• Thursday: Sent 2B Jake Cronenworth on a rehab assignment to Triple-A El Paso.
• Sunday: Signed free-agent 1B Nick Solak to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A El Paso.

Website Highlights

• Vasquez's command woes have taken on a new form — Randy Holt
• Padres' 2025 draft class rundown: How every pick has fared thus far — Steve Drumwright
• Reranking Padres' 2025 trade-deadline moves one year later — Brendan Dentino
• Padres are stuck between a rock and a hard place with Marquez and Canning — Randy Holt
• Padres farm system update: Breaking down Padres Mission's new Top 20 prospect list (June) — Steve Drumwright
• Check out the newest Padres Mission podcast: Is Manny finally back?

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Padres (Griffin Canning) at Cubs (Shota Imanaga), 5:05 p.m.
• Tuesday: Padres (JP Sears) at Cubs (Matthew Boyd), 5:05 p.m.
• Wednesday: Padres (Walker Buehler) at Cubs (Colin Rea), 11:20 a.m.
• Thursday: Padres (Randy Vasquez) at Dodgers (Roki Sasaki), 7:10 p.m.
• Friday: Padres (Michael King) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto), 7:10 p.m.
• Saturday: Padres (Griffin Canning) at Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan), 7:10 p.m.
• Sunday: Padres (JP Sears) at Dodgers (Eric Lauer), 4:20 p.m.

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