Padres stay hot with 5-game win streak as Trade Deadline nears

SAN DIEGO -- There’s never a bad time for a five-game winning streak. But the timing of this one seems impeccable for the Padres.

The Trade Deadline looms on Monday at 3 p.m. PT. The National League Wild Card race is tightening. The Padres could absolutely use a few reinforcements. But first, they needed wins to establish themselves as buyers at the Trade Deadline.

Now, here they are, winners of five straight after beating the Rockies, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon. The Padres sure look like they’re setting themselves up to buy at the Deadline.

Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park:

Trending toward buying
The Phillies’ recent struggles have dragged them back into the fight for the final playoff spots in the National League. Which means it no longer feels like a six-way battle for one spot in the NL. It’s suddenly a seven-way battle for two.

The Padres are the hottest team of the bunch. And with two places to play for, there’s even more reason to think they could make a late-season charge. They currently trail both the Diamondbacks and Phillies by 1 1/2 games. During their five-game winning streak, they’ve already jumped the Marlins, Cardinals, Nationals and Pirates.

“The last two months of the year, this is when good teams separate themselves from the teams hanging around,” said Mason Miller, who nailed down his 28th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Indeed, it’s not worth reading too deeply into those standings right now. There’s still a third of the season to play. (Officially, Wednesday marked two-thirds of the way through the Padres’ schedule.)

Right now, the standings are relevant mostly as they pertain to the Trade Deadline. They tell us who’s a contender. They tell us who might be looking to add.

Lately, the Padres have begun to look like the contender they always thought they’d be.

“How we’re playing right now, I think, is the true identity of this club,” said Jake Cronenworth.

Hart finds a niche -- and maybe Canning, too?
The Kyle Hart/Griffin Canning combination was outstanding on Wednesday afternoon. So outstanding, in fact, that it tested the mettle of manager Craig Stammen.

Without enough true rotation options, the Padres are scripting bullpen games now. But Hart and Canning were so effective, there was a case they both could’ve gone even longer. Stammen acknowledged considering it.

“But when you have it planned out the way we have planned it out -- and spent time doing it -- we feel much better about sticking to the plan,” he said.

So he stuck to that plan. Hart got the first eight outs. Canning got the next nine. They combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings, which was just about everything the Padres could’ve asked for.

We’ll start with Hart. He might be the key to this new all-hands-on-deck pitching plan. Hart is versatile and durable -- and he’s left-handed. He can fill any role. If he’s thriving, chances are, the Padres will be in good shape.

Hart -- whose peripherals indicate he’s been much better than his 4.87 ERA this season -- looked the part on Wednesday, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless with three Ks.

Then there’s Canning. He’s fallen well short of expectations as a starter in San Diego. But it looks like his stuff might play up in the bullpen. Canning got nine whiffs on 21 swings Wednesday -- as many or more whiffs than he’d recorded in all but two of his starts/bulk outings. He certainly seems happy in the new role.

“We’ve won five in a row,” Canning said. “I think we’re all on board to contribute and help the team in any way we can.”

Estrada’s return is 'huge'
Jeremiah Estrada was activated from the IL before Wednesday’s game after missing nearly two months with right knee inflammation. He looked like his usual dominant self, punching out three straight Rockies after walking the leadoff hitter.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Estrada’s return to this bullpen right now. The Padres have worked Adrian Morejon hard lately. They’ve gotten plenty of contributions elsewhere. Yuki Matsui and Bradgley Rodriguez have been solid, filling in the late-inning gaps.

But this bullpen desperately needed another high-leverage option. Estrada is exactly that -- and looked the part on Wednesday, setting up Miller.

“We trust all our guys,” Miller said. “But that’s somebody that we’ve thrown in high leverage a lot. Maybe that allows somebody -- especially like Morejon -- to manage the workload a little bit more. Maybe that allows him to be better as we get down the stretch.

“[Morejon] is already really, really good. But he’s pitched a lot for us. So being able to give him a day today and have Jeremiah for the eighth -- it was huge.”