The San Diego Padres entered the week riding a superb start to the second half of the season following the MLB All-Star Game.
The Padres entered the mid-season classic with a 50-49 record while sitting one game out of a wild card playoff berth.
Fast-forward one month and the outlook is definitely better at 66-53 and +4 in the wild-card race. More importantly, the Friars appear to be moving in the right direction at the right time to secure a postseason berth with an 8-2 mark in their last 10 games (16-4 since the all-star break).
National League division leaders included the Los Angeles Dodgers (69-49, NL West), Philadelphia Phillies (69-49, NL East) and Milwaukee Brewers (67-50, NL Central).
Wild-card teams include the Arizona Diamondbacks and Padres, both 66-53, and the Atlanta Braves (61-56).
Padres general manager A.J. Preller said the key for whatever unfolds the second half of the season is to stay in contention and to focus on things the team can improve on if it does, in fact, get the opportunity to play in October.
The American League division leaders, as of Aug. 11, included the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees as AL East co-leaders at 70-49, Cleveland Gladiators in the AL Central at 69-49 and Houston Astros in the AL West at 62-55.
Wild-card leaders included the Orioles or Yankees at 70-49, Minnesota Twins at 65-52 and Kansas City Royals at 65-53.
The Padres’ All-Star representatives included outfielders Jurickson Profar, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill, second baseman Luis Arraez and pitcher Robert Suarez.
Top performers in the hitting arena include Profar (0.297 hitting average, 19 home runs, 72 RBI), Merrill (0.291 hitting average, 17 home runs, 64 RBI), Manny Machado (0.269 hitting average, 18 home runs, 68 RBI) and Jake Cronenworth (0.248 hitting average, 14 home runs, 67 RBI).
Pitching leaders include Dylan Cease (11-9 record, 3.41 ERA, 181 strikeouts in 142.2 innings), Michael King (9-6 record, 3.34 ERA, 151 strikeouts in 129.1 innings), Suarez (7-1 record, 1.55 ERA, 46 strikeouts in 46.1 innings) and Matt Waldron (7-9 record, 4.00 ERA, 121 strikeouts in 132.2 innings).
Cease pitched a no-hitter, the second gem in club history, on July 25 via a 3-0 defeat of the host Washington Nationals. The Georgia native struck out nine batters and walked three following a 76-minute rain-delay in the nation’s capital.
Grossmont High School alumnus Joe Musgrove has appeared in just 10 games this season with a 3-4 record, 5.66 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 49.1 innings. Musgrove made history with the Pads’ first franchise no-hitter on April 9, 2021.
The Padres have shown the ability to come back in the clutch after recording a 6-5 win over the visiting Dodgers in a 10-inning thriller on July 30. The Pads, trailing 5-0 early, tied the game with back-to-back home runs by Machado and Merrill and Donovan Solano won it with a walk-off single down the left field line in the extra frame.
The win was electrifying for the 47,559 fans in attendance, the largest crowd in Petro Park history.
The Friars have had several key players out with injuries so to be climbing up the standings shows the team does have some depth — and grit.
Upcoming home games are against the Twins on Aug. 19-21 and New York Mets Aug. 22-25.
The Padres and D-Backs have narrowed the Dodgers’ once imposing lead in the NL West standings to 3.5 games. The San Francisco Giants (61-59) are nine games back. The Colorado Rockies continue to occupy the division basement at 44-75, a distant 25.5 games arrears of Los Angeles.
It’s a matter of stay tuned to the standings as the pages on the calendar flip toward fall.
