SAN DIEGO — The Padres aren’t just playing their best baseball of the season. They’re playing some of the best baseball in their history.
The Padres crushed Pittsburgh again Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, 8-2, to extend their winning streak to six straight against the Pirates in nine days. It was the Padres’ 19th win in their last 22 games, a first in franchise history. The day before, they tied a franchise record set in 2007 by winning an eighth straight game.
Basically, the Padres started the All-Star break in the playoff bubble, and they came out of it like a juggernaut. It all worked out.
How else to explain it? During that span, they made a few acquisitions through trades. Martín Pérez was perhaps the least notable of them. But Pérez, who arrived in San Diego with a 5.20 ERA, suddenly looks like a mainstay in the rotation. He made three starts and posted a 1.96 ERA as a Padre.
On Wednesday, Perez dominated his former team, the one that traded him two weeks ago for an 18-year-old prospect unknown in the Dominican Summer League. Perez struck out eight and walked one in 5 1/3 innings of one-run play.
“They were my teammates for 3-4 months, but at the same time, I have to go out there and do my job, because I’m playing for the Padres now,” Perez said. “It’s a nice feeling, and it’s nice to win another game.”
That’s all the Padres seem to be doing. With their recent winning streak, they’ve established themselves as playoff favorites and outside contenders in the National League West. Last time out on Wednesday, they were three games behind the Dodgers.
Of course, the craziest thing about the Padres’ recent surge is that they haven’t won a game on the Diamondbacks since the All-Star Game. They were tied then (one game over .500). They’re tied now (16 games over .500).
“We see what they’re doing and it’s obviously very impressive,” first baseman Jake Cronenworth said. “They’re playing really well right now. So are we. We’re focusing on ourselves, what we do every day and what we can do to win every game.”
The Padres and D-backs are both trying to catch the Dodgers, the third-best team in the sport since the hiatus. But they’re also competing for the top wild-card spot in the National League (and potentially home-field advantage in a wild-card series against each other).
“We’re fighting to get there,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill, who had two hits and a big catch in center field Wednesday. “At the end of the day, whatever the standings are, they’re the standings.”
The race between the Padres and Diamondbacks was the center of attention on Wednesday. The league’s mid-afternoon schedule consisted of just two games, with both teams battling lesser opponents.
The D-backs’ game against the Rockies began a half-hour before the Padres-Pirates game. Arizona led 5-0 before first pitch in San Diego.
The Padres responded quickly. Cronenworth hit a three-run home run into the Petco porch area in right field before Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller had one out. The rout was on. David Peralta homered for the second time in as many games — on his 37th birthday, no less. Peralta, Merrill, Luis Arraez and Tyler Wade each had two hits.
Wade is a little-used backup. Peralta will be back on the bench when Fernando Tatis Jr. returns from injury. Perez is the fifth starter who doesn’t have an obvious spot, should Yu Darvish return from the restricted list this year. And yet, the Padres continue to get big performances from all corners of their lineup.
“We’ve talked a lot about getting all 26 players involved,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We saw that again today.”
And yet, by season’s end, the Padres and Diamondbacks were once again tied for the wild card. They’ve played 10 times this season and split those 10 games. Their season-ending three-game series in Phoenix will decide the tiebreaker. Before that series, the Padres have three games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
This is shaping up to be a pretty spectacular ending.
“Both of those teams are playing really well,” Cronenworth said. “You see it when you look at the scoreboard in right field. It’s fun. At the end of the season, we’ll be playing both of those teams. It’ll be a fun time.”
