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Six games, six sellouts. Petco Park was rocking last week.
It helps, of course, that the Padres turned in their first winning homestand of the season.
“It’s big for us,” said right-hander Joe Musgrove, who picked up wins against the Guardians and Rays to start and finish that homestand. “We haven’t played very well at home this year. So for us to win some games in front of our fans, that’s huge for us.”
Indeed, the fans have turned up in a big way this season. The 28 sellouts are a Petco Park record -- and, frankly, a remarkable one, considering it’s only June, as well as the fact the Padres played two of their home games in Mexico City.
“These fans are amazing,” said Fernando Tatis Jr. “They’ve been here since day one, mostly us losing, but still coming out. We’re grateful, and we’re playing really, really hard baseball for them.”
All offseason, the buzz around these Padres in San Diego was palpable. They’d followed their first trip to the NLCS in 24 years with an eventful offseason in which they pieced together one of the sport’s most talented rosters.
With their underwhelming 35-36 start, though, the Padres have yet to live up to those expectations. It’s worn on them, and it’s grown particularly frustrating at home, where they’ve posted just a 17-20 record.
“We knew coming in that there was going to be quite a few people here this year -- based on last year, based on the personnel that we have,” said manager Bob Melvin. “It hurts me that we have not played as well at home this year. We all feel it. These people inspire us like no other fanbase.
“So we owe them a little something more. Hopefully, our home record gets a little bit better, because they are out in full force from pitch one, and it’s been amazing to watch.”
Melvin made that statement prior to Saturday’s sellout, which broke the previous mark, set in 2022. Shortly thereafter, the Padres went out and delivered the goods.
Blake Snell was dominant in a 2-0 victory on Saturday. The noise reached a crescendo in the ninth, and Melvin later touted a near-playoff-like atmosphere.
Sunday was slightly tamer, but it was another sellout, and raucous once again in the late innings. The Padres again matched that energy, riding it to a thrilling 5-4 victory.
“I don’t think they understand how much that means to us as players,” Musgrove said. “They’re excited about the season. But I think there’s times this year where we’ve taken it for granted, just because we’re so used to seeing the stadium packed every night. Then you get on the road -- 18,000, 12,000, in some places less than 10 -- you really feel the difference in the energy.
“When we’re playing the way that we do, this crowd is like that 10th guy in the lineup.”