Padres Week in Review: Homer Binge Includes Consecutive Walk-offs To Sweep Rockies

Padres' Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 6-1

Runs scored last week: 42

Runs allowed last week: 21

Standings
 

Scores

• Game 10 (Monday): Padres 5, Pirates 0
• Game 11 (Tuesday): Pirates 7, Padres 1
• Game 12 (Wednesday): Padres 8, Pirates 2
• Game 13 (Thursday): Padres 7, Rockies 3 (12 innings)
• Game 14 (Friday): Padres 5, Rockies 2
• Game 15 (Saturday): Padres 9, Rockies 5
• Game 16 (Sunday): Padres 7, Rockies 2

Pirates series

Game 1: Right-handed starter German Marquez bounced back from a rough Padres debut to thanks to some mechanical changes to give the Friars their first three-game winning streak of the season with a 5-0 triumph. Marquez, who have up four runs in three innings in his first start of the season and later found out he was tipping pitches, allowed six hits and one walk over five shutout innings, striking out four. While Marquez held things down, the bottom five of the order came through with eight of the Friars' 11 hits and two walks. Xander Bogaerts, Nick Castellanos, Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth each had a pair of hits, with Fermin scoring twice and Castellanos and Cronenworth driving in runs. Three of the runs came against Pirates starter Bubba Chandler, a top prospect in baseball when promoted to the majors last season. Jackson Merrill continued his strong start to the season with an RBI double, while Cronenworth and Ramon Laureano had run-scoring doubles in the sixth and eighth innings. A shorthanded bullpen got clutch outings from right-handers Ron Marinaccio and David Morgan, who pitched two innings each. Morgan walked three, including the first two batters he faced in the eighth. But he induced ex-Padre Ryan O'Hearn to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

Game 2: In their first matchup against Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner was good enough to keep the Padres' bats quiet on a chilly night, snapping San Diego's three-game winning streak by a 7-2 score. Skenes, who didn't face the Friars in either of his first two seasons in the bigs, overcame two walks and a hit by pitch to turn in 6⅓ innings in which he allowed two hits and one run. That run was also notable. After Tatis foiled the no-hit bid in the sixth inning, Bogaerts took Skenes deep in the seventh, the first homer allowed by the Pirates this season and Bogaerts' first of 2026. That pulled the Padres within 2-1 and ended Skenes' night. But Bogaerts would help put a dagger into the Padres' comeback hopes. Still 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, left-hander Adrian Morejon gave up back-to-back one-out singles and Bogaerts then couldn't cleanly field a possible double-play grounder, loading the bases. Nick Gonzales then lined an opposite-field single down the right-field line to score a pair to make it 4-1. Jake Mangum added an RBI single and Konnor Griffin, baseball's No. 1 prospect who made his MLB debut last week, capped the five-run outburst by ripping a two-run single to left-center for his second hit of the game and third of his career. Morejon was charged with five runs, four earned due to Bogaerts' error, while recording just one out. Padres starter Nick Pivetta struck out eight, while allowing two runs on four hits in five innings.

 

 

 

 

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Game 3: A scoreless duel through six innings turned into an offensive outburst and a second straight series for for the Padres, who came away with an 8-2 triumph. The Padres, who had a subpar homestand to begin the season, went 4-2 on the road trip to Boston and Pittsburgh and return to Petco Park at .500 for the first time this season. After Michael King's six scoreless innings kept the Friars in it, the Padres' bats stepped up in the seventh inning after being shut down by Mitch Keller. Castellanos had a two-run double and Cronenworth went deep for the first time this season, drilling a two-run shot to right-center for a 4-0 lead. King gave up a single and a double to begin the bottom of the seventh and was replaced by left-hander Kyle Hart, who would allow both runs to score. In the top of the ninth, Luis Campusano doubled home a run following a Griffin error, Tatis had an RBI single and a Merrill groundout scored another to make it 7-2. To put the icing on the cake, Merrill and Tatis executed a double steal, with Tatis scoring easily. Mason Miller, who grew up about 30 minutes away from PNC Park, realized a dream by pitching in the stadium, striking out two of the three batters he faced for his fifth save in as many opportunities.

 

 

 

 

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Rockies series

Game 1: In the first extra-innings game of the season, Bogaerts put the slam into Slam Diego for the first time in 2026, hitting a walk-off granny with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Friars a 7-3 win over a pesky Rockies team. After Cronenworth cut down the go-ahead runner at the plate in the top of the 12th, he was the automatic runner to begin the bottom half. Tatis put down just the second sacrifice bunt of his career, then Merrill and Machado were walked intentionally to load the bases for Bogaerts. He drilled a 1-0 sinker from Rockies right-hander Valente Bellozo deep into the left-field seats for his second homer in three games, the third extra-innings walk-off slam in Padres history and the seventh walk-off slam in Petco Park history. It was also the second walk-off slam in Bogaerts' career, one shy of the MLB record held by four players. The win paid off a third strong outing in as many starts for right-hander Randy Vasquez, who allowed 1 run in 5⅔ innings, scattering seven hits while striking out eight and walking none. Machado had a sacrifice fly in the 10th to tie it and Campusano an RBI double in the 11th to set up the 12th-inning victory. For the second time this year, Miller came close to an immaculate inning, striking out the side in the ninth on 10 pitches. Miller has struck out 16 of the 21 batters he has faced in six appearances this year, the second time in three seasons he has done that. With their fifth win in six games, the Padres improved to 7-6, the first time this season they have been above .500.

 

 

 

 

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Game 2: Gavin Sheets provided the encore to Bogaerts' slam, drilling a three-run walk-off homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Padres a 5-2 victory. Sheets had hit his first homer of the season in the fifth inning and extended the Friars' winning streak to three games when he drilled a 99.6 mph four-seamer from right-hander Juan Mejia for his second career walk-off homer. Campusano followed Sheets in the fifth inning by also homering, his first of the year, as the Friars won for the sixth time in seven games. Following a strong six innings from right-handed starter Walker Buehler, Miller pitched for the third straight day, all non-save situations, and struck out all three batters he faced again in extending his scoreless streak to 28⅔ innings, the third-longest streak in team history. The Padres took a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning when the Rockies rallied for a pair of runs off Morejon to tie the game. Morejon has allowed nine runs in 6⅔ innings this season.

 

 

 

 

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Game 3: No walk-off needed here, but the Friars did need a comeback. Erasing an early 4-0 deficit with three three-run innings and a pair of homers, the Padres won their fourth straight and for the seventh time in eight games with an 8-5 decision over the Rockies. Machado fueled the comeback started with a two-run homer, his second of the year, in the third inning to make it 4-3. Laureano cranked out a three-run blast with two outs in the fourth inning for his third of the season. There was almost a third homer, but Castellanos was robbed of a three-run shot in the bottom of the first by left fielder Jordan Beck. The Friars have homered in five straight games. Laureano had two hits and two walks, scoring three times out of the leadoff spot. Tatis got his first career start at second base with Bogaerts getting the day off and Cronenworth shifting to short and responded with his first multi-hit game of the season. Tatis went 3-for-4 with a double and a bases-loaded walk. Marquez, making his first start vs. his former team, gave up three homers, a two-run blast in the first to Mickey Moniak, a solo shot in the third to Edouard Julien in the third and Moniak again one out later to make it 4-0. But that was the last hit Marquez allowed in his five innings. He walked two and struck out five. With Miller unavailable after pitching three straight days, right-hander Jason Adam, activated from the injured list the day before, appeared in back-to-back games to get Bradgley Rodriguez out of a ninth-inning jam with a one-out save. It was Adam's first save since joining the Padres at the 2024 trade deadline.

 

 

 

 

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Game 4: What was otherwise a bright day was tinged with some potentially bad news. Laureano hit his team-leading fourth homer, while Ty France and Merrill also went deep in a 7-2 win to complete a four-game sweep of the Rockies. But the Friars' fifth consecutive win and eighth in nine games was marred by the early exit of Pivetta, the team's Opening Day starter. After retiring the first nine Rockies, Pivetta was removed from the game after three pitches in the top of the fourth with stiffness in his right elbow. More tests will be done to determine the extent of the injury. Pivetta had struck out four of the nine batters he faced. Hart replaced Pivetta and allowed two runs on one hit in 2⅓ innings. Morgan, left-hander Wandy Peralta and Rodriguez finished up by allowing one hit and striking out seven in 3⅔ innings. But it was the offense that was the star. The three homers Sunday gave the Friars nine in the four-game sweep, just the second of that length in team history (June 25-28, 1999). Finding more power was a priority this offseason and the Padres certainly unlocked that this series while extending their homer streak to six games. The Friars had just three homers in their first eight games and now have 13 in their last eight.

 

 

 

 

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Random Stats

• The Padres have won 11 of their last 13 meetings with the Pirates, with both losses being taken by Nick Pivetta.
• Via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres' slow start with the bats could be attributed to the quality of pitching they faced in the first 12 games. Per MLB Data Warehouse, had faced the nastiest pitching of any team in MLB based on Stuff+. The Rockies entered the series ranked last in staff nastiness.
• The Friars have captured the opener in each of their last two series after dropping the first game of their first three series of the season.
• Xander Bogaerts hit the 10th walk-off grand slam in Padres history and the first since Manny Machado on Aug. 19, 2020.
• The last time the Padres had back-to-back walk-off homers was June 11-12, 2024, against the Oakland A's. The second one came off Mason Miller, courtesy of Jackson Merrill.
• Fernando Tatis Jr.'s three-hit game Saturday was the 200th multi-hit game of his career.

Transactions

• Friday: Placed RHP Jeremiah Estrada on the 15-day injured list with right elbow tendinitis.
• Friday: Activated RHP Jason Adam (left quad) from the 15-day injured list.

Website Highlights

Miller's unholy evolution mirrors that of Diaz — N.B. Lindberg

Tatis is crushing baseballs, but his timing is way off — Randy Holt

Can Campusano (finally) break the Padres' catching curse? — Brendan Dentino

Padres history: Rushing prospects up the minor-league ranks and what it means for Schoolcraft — Joe Naiman

The numbers behind Craig Stammen's tinkering with the Padres' lineup — Steve Drumwright

Will the real Nick Pivetta please stand up? — Andy Johnson

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Off
• Tuesday: Mariners (Bryan Woo) at Padres (Michael King), 6:40 p.m.
• Wednesday: Mariners (Emerson Hancock) at Padres (Randy Vasquez), 6:40 p.m.
• Thursday: Mariners (Luis Castillo) at Padres (Walker Buehler), 5:40 p.m.
• Friday: Padres (German Marquez) at Angels, 6:38 p.m.
• Saturday: Padres (TBA) at Angels, 6:38 p.m.
• Sunday: Padres (Michael King) at Angels, 1:07 p.m.