Surging Padres are 'waiting for that miracle'

SAN DIEGO -- While others are eager to turn out the lights on the Padres’ plans for a playoff party, the local nine have yet to wave a white flag.

The Padres still have a pulse, and they proved it again by beating the Giants, 4-0, to seize the four-game series with their third consecutive triumph Sunday at Petco Park.

That tied their longest winning streak of the season. Has the Padres’ glass suddenly gone from half-empty to half-full?

“We know what we got in here as a group and how good of a team that we are,’’ third baseman Manny Machado said. “And that we haven’t lived up to it to this time. But it comes down to the next 24 games.’’

Or is it too little, too late? Is the mountain the Padres are trying to climb too steep? Can they dig themselves from a trench that has kneecapped their season, which is shaping up as the most disheartening in franchise history?

The answer could eventually be “yes” to all of the above. But as the surging Padres reach Labor Day, it’s no longer a chore to envision them playing meaningful September games instead of playing out the string.

“There is always time until we are out,’’ Machado said. “We are waiting for that miracle, and the only people that can handle that is us. So we can make it happen. We’ve just got to believe in it and believe in each other.’’

Machado’s faith is commendable.

But the Friars, who are eight games under .500 at 65-73, sit 5 1/2 games off the pace for the National League’s final Wild Card spot, with four teams ahead of them.

“I think it’s a little late, but we still have 24 games to go, and we are going to play as hard as we can and see how far we can end up,’’ outfielder Juan Soto said.

The Padres have swept their three September games after a 10-18 August that had them 11 games under water.

But then the calendar changed, and so did the Padres.

“Overall, you look at this team and what they did to us over these four games, and there’s some curiosity about why they are in the standings where they are,’’ Giants starter Alex Cobb said. “That’s one of the best lineups in baseball, regardless of where they are in the standings.’’

Less than 24 hours from smacking four home runs, the Padres displayed their brawn again.

Soto blasted the first one, connecting for a two-run shot in the first inning. It was Soto’s third big fly in three games as he redirected Cobb’s elevated splitter a Statcast-projected 372 feet to left-center with a 107.1 mph exit velocity.

The Padres’ cushion grew to 3-0 when Xander Bogaerts sent a shot past shortstop Brandon Crawford and into the left-center-field gap for a run-scoring double. He chased home Machado, who reached on a single.

Machado’s next knock went over the wall. With his 26th homer on the season in the third, the Padres were cruising with a 4-0 lead, and the Giants were wondering what hit them again. Cobb’s sinker was middle-in, and it caught too much of the plate before Machado sent it 417 feet to center.

That score held as Seth Lugo and three relievers stiff-armed the Giants.

Lugo won for the second time in his past three outings with a mixture that included his spot-on curveball. He worked six scoreless innings, surrendering three hits and one walk. He struck out four.

San Francisco never had two runners on against Lugo. Just one Giant reached second base, when Wilmer Flores doubled with two outs in the sixth.

But Joc Pederson flew out, and that was that for the Giants, and Lugo.

“I feel like these last few wins have given us a boost of energy,’’ Lugo said. “The guys are a little more upbeat, so it’s nice.’’

The starting pitching has leaned on the Padres’ power outburst in the past three games, and it has been a recipe for success. San Diego has stroked eight home runs over that span, which ties their most over that period this season.

Bogaerts didn’t go deep, but he had four hits, including his RBI double.

Machado did go deep, one of his three hits.

“There are a few miracles out there,’’ Machado said. “And we can write our own story.’’