PHOENIX -- The Padres evened their series in Arizona with a 9-4 victory on Tuesday night, moving back within a game of the D-backs for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Here’s some reaction from Chase Field:
Back to a standard rotation?
“Pitching chaos” worked when it had to. For two weeks leading up to the Trade Deadline, the Padres got by using bullpen games to cover three-fifths of their rotation spots. They won enough of those games to justify buying at the Deadline -- then added Casey Mize and Robbie Ray.
After a performance like this one from Randy Vásquez, it’s fair to wonder if the Padres might be done with that strategy entirely. Mize and Ray will join a rotation with Michael King and Walker Buehler already filling two spots.
Vásquez, meanwhile, seems ready to re-assume his rotation place after a brief stint in the bullpen. He was excellent on Tuesday, allowing just two hits over six scoreless innings.
“We’ve been using him in a little bit of a swing role, different kind of role,” said manager Craig Stammen. “We needed him to start tonight, and he got out to a big lead and kind of went with it, threw a bunch of strikes.”
Handed an early lead, Vásquez attacked the zone, throwing 16 of 20 first-pitch strikes. He became the first pitcher aside from King to complete six innings in a start across the last two months -- and he did so with ease. Vásquez’s velocity ticked up, and he did what he usually does when things are going well: He induced lots of weak contact.
“I honestly did not know I was going to go six innings,” Vásquez said through interpreter Pedro Gutierrez. “But I know they trusted me.”
Joe Musgrove is on his way back. Nick Pivetta? TBD. He endured an injury scare on Tuesday, but could be OK. Pretty soon the Padres might have an overabundance of starters -- in stark contrast to where things stood at this time two days ago.
A much needed bounceback
The most important thing to happen this week? Probably those Deadline acquisitions. Maybe the beginning of those rehab stints for Pivetta and Musgrove.
But this series is pretty darn important, too. Especially in the context of the National League Wild Card race. And the Padres did not start it well, falling flat in Monday’s opener.
They needed a bounce-back performance, and they got it right from the start. They pounded D-backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez for three runs in the top of the first inning. They added three more in the second.
“There was just a different energy, a little bit more energy,” Stammen said. “The guys brought it today -- against a really good pitcher, one of the guys that’s been pitching the best in the National League. So, I liked the energy we had, and the at-bats were all locked in from the beginning.”
Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth all finished the night with three hits. Xander Bogaerts had two hits and a walk, before exiting after he fouled a ball off his foot. The San Diego offense looked back to its usual standards. (Or at least, the standards it’s shown lately.)
“Obviously last night was not the greatest game we’ve had offensively -- after a great month, month and a half of offense,” Cronenworth said. “Obviously, it’s going to happen. But right now, playing against them -- I think tonight was just a great all-around example of what it looks like. From the first pitch.”
RBI threats in the middle
Machado drove in four runs. Merrill drove in two. It’s becoming a semi-regular occurrence that those two are impacting games from the middle of the Padres’ lineup -- Machado from the No. 3 spot and Merrill at No. 5.
When the San Diego offense was struggling earlier this season, that’s what it was missing. It was obvious at the time. It’s even more obvious now that both are mashing.
“It’s changed it immensely,” Stammen said of the improved production from those two stars. “We went from not a great offense to one of the best.”
Machado and Merrill have become the RBI threats the Padres hoped they’d be. Knew they’d be. It’s no coincidence that the rest of the offense seems to have fallen into place around them.
Ty France has found a niche, sitting between those two at cleanup. Fernando Tatis Jr. is doing his part from the top spot. Stammen is rotating Cronenworth and Luis Rengifo into the No. 2 spot, depending on the handedness of that day’s pitcher. The bottom of the lineup has thrived, too.
The Padres have been one of the best offenses in baseball for a couple months now. It starts with their superstars.