The very last move the Padres made at the trade deadline was a deal for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, who at the time was rehabbing an injury with the Milwaukee Brewers. After the whirlwind that brought high-profile names like Mason Miller and Ryan O’Hearn to town the addition kind of got lost in the shuffle.
If they weren’t well aware of him already, Padres fans are now VERY fond of Cortes. The lefty completely shut down the Dodgers lineup, taking a perfect game into the 6th inning and leading the Friars to a 5-1 win that puts them alone in first place in the National League West, a full game up on Los Angeles with one game left in their pivotal weekend series at Petco Park.
Cortes was nothing short of sensational, keeping the Dodgers off-balance all night. He retired the first 16 batters of the game before allowing a clean single to Miguel Rojas with one out in the 6th inning. It was the only baserunner “Nasty” Nestor allowed in his 6.0 innings of work, earning his first win as a member of the Padres because he outpitched the much more ballyhooed Tyler Glasnow.
The Dodgers starter struggled with his command and in the 4th inning it hurt him. Glasnow walked Manny Machado, allowed a single to O’Hearn, and walked Xander Bogaerts to load the bases. Ramon Laureano made him pay. The outfielder who’s arguably been the best of the deadline additions snuck a single through the right side to bring home two runs and put San Diego on top 2-0.
Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 game and, as it so often does, the Padres potent bullpen made it stand up. Dodgers rookie Alex Freeland hit a solo homer off Jeremiah Estrada to make it a 3-1 game but the Padres ended any thoughts of a late Dodgers comeback in the 8th inning thanks to a 2-run double by Bogaerts.
Adrian Morejon got the final four outs to earn the save and give the Padres a chance to sweep the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon with Nick Pivetta on the mound against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.