King's adjustments pay off with stellar start

SAN FRANCISCO -- Command has always been central to Michael King's game, but it eluded him in his first two outings in a Padres uniform. He entered Saturday having issued 10 free passes in 7 1/3 innings, resulting in a 26.3% walk rate in a small sample.

Fortunately for King, a midweek adjustment helped him get right, giving the Padres a glimpse of the 28-year-old righty at his best as he blanked the Giants across a career-high-tying seven innings in the Padres' 4-0 win at Oracle Park. Jurickson Profar's first-inning grand slam was all the offense San Diego needed to even the three-game series and set up a rubber game on Sunday.

The Padres' rotation is gaining steam as the season progresses, with King's gem representing the club's fourth consecutive quality start.

"That's who Michael King is," manager Mike Shildt said. "Michael King is going to compete his tail off. He's going to have a lot of different pitches in the arsenal. He's going to have a lot of movement. He's going to work ahead, control counts and do a nice job like he did tonight."

Making his second start since joining the organization as part of the five-player return for Juan Soto, King struck out four and allowed just four hits and one walk, a rebound from his career-high seven walks issued last Sunday in San Diego.

As he prepared to face San Francisco in back-to-back starts, King conferred with several Padres staffers, including pitching coach Ruben Niebla, and made a tweak to his mechanics.

"It was kind of a setup, and then just one little thought process of, as I'm going down the mound, making sure I'm seeing my sights," King said. "I always use my left elbow -- make sure I can see the catcher over that left elbow and then fire. And I felt like that was kind of my trigger, and it got me into better positions and I was able to command the zone a lot better."

King's left elbow wasn't necessarily in the wrong place in his previous two outings, he said, but making the positioning a "point of emphasis" has helped him simplify his delivery.

"I didn't want to have too many mechanical thoughts," King said. "In my last one, I was thinking about three different things every different inning to see if it was fixing it."

On Saturday, King had a comfortable lead before he even took the mound. The Padres loaded the bases on two singles and a walk against Giants starter Keaton Winn in the top of the first, and Profar walloped the first pitch he saw for a grand slam that landed just inside the right-field foul pole.

"It's huge to get out there with a four-run lead because it almost shuts down the running game a little bit," King said. "It allows me to just be free and easy and attack the zone."

It proved fortunate that Profar and the Padres got to Winn early, as the Giants right-hander issued two additional walks but faced the minimum in each of his final five innings. Winn, the only Giants starter who did not pitch last weekend at Petco Park, faced San Diego twice in 2023 and held the club to one run on seven hits over 10 innings.

King has benefited from pitching with ample offense behind him, as his Padres debut came in relief in the team's 15-11 win over the Dodgers in Seoul and his previous start was a 13-4 rout of the Giants in San Diego.

Including Saturday, 32 of the Padres' 58 total runs through their first 11 games scored in King's three appearances (two starts).

"I think a lead, for any pitcher, it gives them comfort and the mindset where it's like, 'Let me just get after it. Let me just use my pitches and get quick outs,'" catcher Luis Campusano said. "And that's what he did, and that's what he showed."

This version of King is who the Padres thought they were getting in the Soto trade. Even so, King felt like his stuff could have been "more electric" as he shut down the Giants' lineup.

That competitive drive has been a standout quality early on in King's time with San Diego.

"He works really hard," Campusano said. "Every outing, every opportunity, he wants to compete. That's the type of personality he has."