The Padres have been gaining and gaining and gaining on the Dodgers and Tuesday they finally caught ’em.
Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Padres a lead they never relinquished. Jackson Merrill connected in the eighth for insurance to beat the struggling Giants 5-1 and move the Friars into a tie for first in the National League West.
It’s a position manager Mike Shildt expected his club to be in for the season’s stretch run and now the Padres are there, just ahead of their weekend showdown in Los Angeles no less.
Merrill had two hits, Jake Croneworth contributed an RBI single in the fourth and Ramón Laureano had two hits and scored two runs.
Jason Adam (8-3) also worked out of a bases-loaded jam.
San Francisco’s Dominic Smith had extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games with a pinch-hit single to load the bases in the sixth and chase David Morgan.
The Padres turned to Adam, who recorded the final two outs. He was credited with the win.
Starter Nestor Cortes had struck out six with one walk while giving up one run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings for San Diego. Manager Mike Shildt praised the newcomer for putting thoughts of a personal win aside for a “team win.”
“Nestor was really good. he was fantastic to get us deep into the fifth and Morgan did his part and Jason Adam was huge to get out of the sixth and grab that seventh,” he said.
The Padres took a lead in the first on Manny Machado’s two-out single, followed by a double from Xander Bogaerts before Robbie Ray (9-6) was called for a balk that brought home their first run.
San Francisco tied it on Wilmer Flores’ two-out single in the bottom of the first.
The Giants dropped their fourth straight – they also lost for the 12th time in 13 home games –and Ray’s winless stretch reached seven starts.
The Padres secured their season-best fifth straight win of a series and improved to 8-1-2 over their last 11 series dating to July 4-6 against Texas. On July 3, they were nine games back of the Dodgers.
That streak allowed them to draw even with the reigning World Series champions, who lost to the Angels in 10 innings Tuesday – and saw Shohei Ohtani hit into a triple play to boot.
Nick Pivetta (11-4, 2.94 ERA) starts the series finale for San Diego at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, while the Giants send Kai-Wei Teng (1-1, 5.40) to the mound for his second start and third appearance of 2025. Then it’s on to LA.
Note: Inset, outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) stands on deck on Aug. 11, 2025, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (File photo by Trinity Machan/Icon Sportswire)