SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have won 13 of 14 and have surged into a tie for the top Wild Card spot in the National League. They’ve built five games of cushion on Arizona with six games to play. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres aren’t merely sneaking up to the postseason party. They’re kicking down the door. San Diego has won 13 of 14. No team in baseball is hotter. Not all that long ago, the Padres were on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. Now --

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres and starting pitcher Yu Darvish have partnered to make one of the largest contributions in Padres history to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego. The contribution, which was announced on Sunday morning, was designated as a Peter Seidler Legacy Fund Project in

SAN DIEGO -- Before Dustin Harris’ go-ahead single bounced off the mound and into center field, sparking Petco Park to life … before Ty France launched a towering three-run homer to the Western Metal Building and watched it fly as the ballpark erupted around him … before Jackson Merrill added

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DENVER -- Xander Bogaerts got the hardest parts out of the way early. He homered to lead off the second inning on Thursday afternoon, then, after the Padres batted around, he tripled to cap a seven-run rally. In the fourth, he laced a double that one-hopped the left-center-field wall at

DENVER -- With their 9-2 demolition of the Rockies on Thursday afternoon, the Padres increased their lead in the National League Wild Card race to four games over the Diamondbacks. The Padres have won 10 of 11 and went 6-1 on their road trip through San Francisco and Colorado. In

DENVER -- It’s one thing to make baseball history. It’s another to do it with your team locked in the middle of a tight playoff race.

DENVER -- The Padres made Ethan Salas the youngest catcher in the big leagues in 35 years, because they figured he could help them in their postseason push.

DENVER -- The Padres saw their eight-game winning streak snapped with a 9-3 loss to the Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field.

DENVER -- The Padres have matched a season high with eight straight victories, and, ultimately, that’s the important part. Wins are wins. At this point in the season, the Padres will take them however they can get them. On Monday, they jumped out to an early five-run lead, then held

The Padres maintained their half-game edge in the National League Wild Card race, beating the Giants, 7-5, on Friday night at Oracle Park.

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SAN DIEGO -- When Padres manager Craig Stammen emerged from the dugout in the top of the third inning on Wednesday afternoon, he had his mind made up. He was going to his bullpen. This game -- in the context of the National League Wild Card race -- was too

SAN DIEGO -- It was 95 degrees at first pitch on Wednesday afternoon, marking the hottest game in Petco Park history. The Padres are red-hot, too. They completed a sweep of the Nationals with a 9-2 victory on a scorching Wednesday afternoon in downtown San Diego -- and finished their

SAN DIEGO -- It’s that time of year. Sometime around the sixth inning on Tuesday night, the scoreboard at Petco Park flashed a new final: The Diamondbacks had won in Kansas City. The Padres, at the time, were trailing by three runs.

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SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have spent the past few months wondering what kind of impact a healthy Nick Pivetta could make on a pennant race. At long last, they’re going to find out. In a surprise announcement following Sunday’s game against the Yankees, Padres manager Craig Stammen named Pivetta

SAN DIEGO -- Nearly 40 years ago, the Padres became the first team in Major League history to begin a game by hitting three consecutive home runs. In the four decades since Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk all took San Francisco’s Roger Mason deep on April 13, 1987,

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres kept pace in the National League Wild Card race with a 4-3 victory over the Yankees on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.

SAN DIEGO -- Back and forth they go in the National League Wild Card race. The Padres pulled off perhaps their most dramatic win of the year on Friday -- but followed it with a dud of a 5-1 loss to the Yankees on Saturday night. That allowed the Diamondbacks,

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres hope there are more Luis Campusano moments to come. Maybe a couple more swings like this one in October. Maybe another few big-time throws as the lights grow even brighter down the stretch. Still, a night like this one served as justification for all of

SAN DIEGO -- Luis Campusano did it all on Friday night, throwing out three attempted basestealers before launching a walk-off two-run homer that set the Padres to a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Yankees in 10 innings. Campusano turned on a first-pitch fastball from Yankees right-hander Paul Blackburn and launched

SAN DIEGO -- If Joe Musgrove returns to the Padres this season, it now seems likely that he would not do so as a traditional starting pitcher. Musgrove is in the midst of another setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. With time running out on the season, he

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.