Padres finish 10-game homestand on high note

SAN DIEGO -- Ten days ago, the Padres began their longest homestand of the season, looking to make their move in the NL Wild Card race. They were running out of time, but they’d been presented with an opportunity, with 10 games in 10 days at Petco Park (including seven against fellow NL contenders).

Instead, those games came and went, and the Padres found themselves right back where they started. After a 5-5 homestand, San Diego sits six games below .500, 5 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. Precisely where things stood 10 days ago.

Nonetheless, the Padres won Wednesday's series finale against the Marlins, 4-0, behind six scoreless innings from Seth Lugo and a two-run homer from Xander Bogaerts. It was a game they absolutely had to win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. And, to their credit, they won it.

“Who we were playing and where we were at, this was probably as much of a must-win as we’ve had this year,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Look, all of them are important now, in the position we’ve put ourselves in. But against these guys, to lose two out of three would’ve been even tougher a road.”

Indeed, the Padres gained a pivotal game on Miami in the standings. In the process, they clinched the season series, meaning they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, should the two teams end up tied for a playoff spot.

“That’s a team that’s obviously ahead of us,” Bogaerts said. “They’re in the spot that we want to go. We’ve just got to continue it. … Every game now matters that much more.”

The reality of the NL playoff picture is that it remains wide open. Aside from the Phillies (69-58), none of the Wild Card contenders have pulled away, leaving (at least) two playoff spots up for grabs.

In some ways, that only makes this middling homestand more frustrating. While teams ahead of them in the Wild Card race faltered, the Padres didn’t manage to gain any ground.

“We obviously can do better,” said Bogaerts. “Sucks that the games that are played, you can’t play it over. So you’ve got to live with the results and move it forward. It’s Milwaukee, and then St. Louis.”

The Padres, at least, are showing the requisite organizational urgency. Rich Hill was initially lined up to start Wednesday's series finale. But Hill has struggled in his first few starts since being dealt to San Diego at the Deadline.

Prior to this week, the Padres have slow-played their rotation all season. But their predicament won't allow for complacency. So they opted to skip Hill in favor of Lugo, and the move paid off.

“You get that show of confidence from the coaching staff, it feels really good,” Lugo said.

Lugo, who has blown past his career high in innings, has shown no signs of slowing down so late into the season. He transitioned from the bullpen into a full-time starting role this year for the first time since 2017. In no uncertain terms, Lugo has been excellent, a hugely valuable piece at the back of the Padres rotation.

It wasn’t always likely, but given the state of the rotation -- with Joe Musgrove’s injury and Hill’s struggles -- it suddenly feels more likely than not that Lugo would finish the season as a starter.

“I don’t see why not,” Melvin said. “Here we are, almost in September.”

Lugo worked quickly and efficiently on Wednesday, allowing just three hits and a walk. Juan Soto gave him a first-inning lead with an RBI single to plate Ha-Seong Kim. In the sixth, Bogaerts tacked on a pair, launching a no-doubt two-run blast off reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.

“It felt good off the bat,” Bogaerts said. “It was a fastball -- two-seamer middle-in. It didn’t move as much. I got the barrel.”

The Padres tacked on an insurance run on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s RBI single in the seventh. Half an inning later, they withstood the ejection of Robert Suarez after a foreign-substance check. (Suarez is now facing a 10-game suspension, though it’s unclear whether he plans to appeal.)

Tom Cosgrove worked a perfect eighth in Suarez’s place, before Josh Hader pitched a nervy ninth, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate. But he escaped, and the Padres had their .500 homestand.

It was not what they wanted 10 days ago. But it proved better than the alternative on Wednesday, at least.