Padres dominate Rockies to win 5th straight series

SAN DIEGO -- The sun was out and so were the Padres’ bats in a commanding 10-2 victory over the Rockies on Sunday at Petco Park.

Behind home runs from Kyle Higashioka, Jurickson Profar and David Peralta, San Diego won its second straight game over Colorado and claimed its fifth consecutive series triumph.

No team has found the winner’s circle as often as the Padres since the All-Star break. With an 11-3 record, they’ve climbed back into the NL West race, 4 1/2 games shy of the first-place Dodgers.

“We’ve been able to do a lot of things consistently together,’’ San Diego manager Mike Shildt said. “Starting pitching, the ability to score runs, those two go in concert with each other.

“We play our clean defense and do our smart baserunning. That’s usually a good recipe for shaking hands consistently.’’

Higashioka was the first to showcase his power in the fifth inning with a leadoff blast off an 80 mph curveball. Two batters later, Profar went deep, squaring up an 88 mph splitter.

Right-hander Cal Quantrill (7-8), a former Padre, didn’t survive the fifth inning.

San Diego’s starter, right-hander Matt Waldron (7-9), was effective through 5 2/3 innings. He was touched for a run on two hits, with seven strikeouts.

“He had incredible action [on the knuckleball] today," Shildt said. "Sometimes the hitters tell you, sometimes the catcher tells you. I mean, he’s a tough catch.’’

Waldron was backed by some stellar defensive plays.

In the third inning with no outs, Aaron Schunk was on first and running on the pitch when Ezequiel Tovar popped out in foul territory to first baseman Luis Arraez. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth decoyed Schunk into thinking there was a play at second.

Schunk slid into the bag, realized he had been hoodwinked, and sprinted back to first. But he neglected to retouch the bag and was called out when the Padres appealed.

Peralta flashed his leather in the fifth, robbing Sam Hilliard of a potential home run with a leaping grab at the top of the right-field fence.

“You don’t get the chance to do that every day,’’ Peralta said. “It feels good, for sure.”

For an encore, he smashed a three-run homer to stretch the Padres’ advantage to 6-1.

The Padres tacked on another run in the seventh on two-baggers by Profar and Manny Machado.

Cronenworth’s two-run double was the highlight of a three-run eighth, which put the finishing touches on a win that catapulted the Padres to an over -.500 home record.

Six batters drove in runs for San Diego on a day in which most everything went right.

The win happened before yet another sellout crowd, adding to the optimism the Padres will cram into the overhead as they depart for a two-city, six-game road trip.

The first stop is Pittsburgh, where right-hander Michael King is expected to rejoin the rotation. Add that to the stellar Saturday performance of veteran southpaw starter Martín Pérez, a recent pickup, and San Diego is riding a wave of clean baseball.

Shildt displayed his bullpen depth thanks to a flurry of moves at the Trade Deadline. Three relievers tied a bow around the victory, allowing only one run on three hits, locking in the triumph.

Now, it’s off to the Steel City after a weekend in which the Padres showed their mettle and muscle by winning another series.

“Teams like us, we are always going to find a way to win,’’ Peralta said. “That’s what we’ve been doing, and we are going to continue doing that.’’