The Padres, behind a four-hit performance from Manny Machado – and just enough from Dylan Cease – beat the Rockies Saturday 8-3.
With the win, the Friars gained on both the Dodgers, now ahead by two games in the National League West, and the Diamondbacks, who fell to third place in the division. San Diego and Arizona have taken charge in the wild-card race, with the Braves and Mets fighting it out for the third playoff spot.
Los Angeles lost to the Cardinals Saturday and Arizona to the Rays.
Machado, in the lineup as the DH, also walked, to reach base in all of his at-bats. Cronenworth, Luis Campusano and Bryce Johnson had two RBIs each.
The Padres opened up the scoring in the second inning after Machado’s lead-off double and a single by Jake Cronenworth to bring him home. Following a double by Ha-Seong Kim, Campusano drove Cronenworth in on a groundout to short.
The Friars, after two more two-run innings, led 7-0 in the sixth when Cease hit a rough patch, giving up three runs and exiting the game. He issued two walks and the Rockies loaded the bases with nobody out, but he induced a double-play grounder from Brendan Rodgers.
But the trouble wasn’t over, as the next batter, Michael Toglia, took Cease deep for a two-run home run and a narrowed lead, at 7-3. That was enough for manager Mike Shildt, who replaced Cease with Adrian Morejon. He and three other Padre relievers held Colorado scoreless the rest of the way.
The team took heart from the win, as the Friars did it without Luis Arraez and Jackson Merrill, who Shildt gave the day off.
“Speaks loudly, doesn’t it?” Shildt said, that the team didn’t “really miss a beat and you get really quality at-bats” even without the All-Star duo in the lineup.
The Padres send Joe Musgrove to the mound Sunday. They return home Monday to host the Twins for three games and the Mets for four later in the week.
Note: Photo credit, inset – Jake Cronenworth in 2023, @Padres via X.