Padres eye fourth 3-0 start in club history 

Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.

The Padres have opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2011.

Only three times in franchise history have the Padres opened a season with three consecutive wins, most recently in their first National League-winning season of 1984, when they opened with a franchise-record four straight wins on their way to winning eight of their first nine games and a 14-5 record after 19 games.

The Padres also opened the 1980 and their inaugural 1969 seasons with three straight wins.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman managed the 1980 Padres, who finished the season with a 73-89-1 record.

In 1969, the Padres notched 2-1, 2-0 and 2-0 wins over Houston at San Diego Stadium in the first three games in franchise history. The Astros got only 10 hits in the three games while right fielder Ollie Brown, the Padres’ first pick in the expansion Draft, homered and drove in four of the Padres' first six runs.

Here's what else happened during that run:

• Dick Selma pitched a five-hit complete game with 12 strikeouts in the first game ever played by the Padres, before a turnout of only 23,370. Ed Spiezio hit the Padres' first homer and Brown drove in the tie-breaking run.

• Johnny Podres and Tommie Sisk combined on a three-hitter the following night for the Padres’ first shutout. Podres also had a double and a sacrifice fly.

• Dick Kelley, Frank Reberger and Billy McCool combined on a two-hit shutout to complete the sweep. Brown homered and drove in both runs.

The season quickly went downhill after the franchise-opening sweep. The Padres lost their next six games and went 26-61 over the next 87 games to finish with a franchise-worst 52-110 record.

Notes

• Rookies Nick Margevicius and Chris Paddack, respectively, will start the Padres’ third and fourth games of the season on Saturday and Sunday. The first four pitchers starting for San Diego this season have fewer than two years of Major League experience, with Margevicius and Paddack making their Major League debuts.

• After starting his Padres career by going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and a double-play grounder, third baseman Manny Machado finished Friday night with two hits.

• Left fielder Wil Myers is 4-for-6 with a double, a homer, a walk, a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs scored in his first two games.

• Left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi allowed three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings on Friday. He has now struck out at least six in four straight starts and issued two or fewer walks in eight straight starts.