Padres sweep LA, inch closer in NL West
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SAN DIEGO -- The race is on in the National League West.
A day after the Padres walked off the Dodgers in dramatic fashion, the reinforcements arrived at Petco Park on Wednesday. For the first time, San Diego manager Mike Shildt had the entirety of his new-look, high-octane bullpen at his disposal.
Then the Padres made quick work of Clayton Kershaw. The full force of their bullpen could wait for another night. This one was a laugher -- an 8-1 San Diego victory.
With a sweep of their two-game series against Los Angeles, the Padres narrowed their deficit in the NL West to 4 1/2 games, the smallest that gap has been since May 4. They also clinched the season series over the Dodgers for the first time since 2010 -- which essentially narrows that gap even further, because the Padres would own a potential tiebreaker.
The division race everyone expected in 2023 might end up materializing a year later instead.
“Our goals haven’t changed at any point during the season,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s been to win the division. We know it’s a tall order and a competitive division, so we’re just going about playing and taking care of our business.”
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In an encore to his no-hitter, right-hander Dylan Cease worked 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Such is the nature of Cease’s recent dominance, that it qualified as perhaps his worst start in four weeks. Jason Heyward’s second-inning infield single snapped a string of 46 plate appearances by opposing batters without a hit against Cease.
“The idea of [another no-hitter] is very appealing -- definitely crossed my mind,” Cease said with a smile. “But at the end of the day, difficult to do.”
Cease ultimately surrendered three hits and three walks, along with his first run since July 7. His command wasn’t as sharp as it had been during a remarkable three-start stretch in which he allowed only two hits total. But he could be forgiven, having thrown a career-high 114 pitches to no-hit the Nats in his last time out.
Plus, it’s not like the Padres needed Cease to be pinpoint on Thursday. They staked him to an early four-run lead, then kept tacking on. San Diego took advantage of three Dodgers errors, including Kershaw’s misplay of a Bryce Johnson bunt in the second inning.
That fueled a four-run frame for the Padres. Two innings later, they added three more, chasing Kershaw with two outs in the fourth. It marked the shortest outing Kershaw had ever turned in against San Diego and the first time he made a regular-season start without recording a strikeout. Only twice did the Padres even swing and miss against him.
“Really pleased with the approach,” Shildt said. “Obviously a really, really tough pitcher. You take what he gives you. Our guys had a good plan, used the whole field.”
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Luis Campusano had two hits off Kershaw, including a homer into the first level of the Western Metal Supply Co. building to spark the three-run fourth. Johnson recorded the first multihit game of his career. Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill also had two hits apiece.
The Padres poured it on, leaving something of a parting statement for the Dodgers. These two NL West rivals won’t meet again until the final week of the season -- a three-game set in Los Angeles, Sept. 24-26. At that point, who knows what might be on the line?
“Every game we’re playing right now is extremely important,” Cease said. “We need to continue to bring this focus and intensity and effort to every game we’re playing.”
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The Padres still have plenty of work to do to close the gap, and their schedule, which was filled with off-days in July, is relentless in August.
But that’s where the reinforcements come in. The Padres have burdened the top arms in their bullpen heavily. Now, they now have a wealth of options -- and an ability to rest their top relievers when they need to. (On Wednesday, newcomers Jason Adam and Bryan Hoeing debuted with a scoreless inning apiece.)
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If the Padres can withstand the dog days, they’ve built a roster they believe will be able to contend with the best in the National League. Their 7-3 record against the Dodgers this year is further proof.
“We’ve got to beat this team,” Machado said. “We’ve got to go through them. … But as a group, we’re just worrying about Friday night. Enjoy this off-day tomorrow, then worry about Friday night.”