Despite a crushing series loss in Queens, the Friars rebounded with a dominant sweep of Minnesota to keep their postseason lead secure while surging toward October.
The San Diego Padres had a week that included both highs and lows, and it has seen them slip a couple of places in Bleacher Report’s newest power rankings. Moving from No. 7 last week to No. 9 this week, the Padres remain the sixth-ranked team in the National League.
All San Diego needs is to finish with a top-six record in the NL, which they are currently in position to do so. With a 71-60 record, the Padres lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by two games for the final Wild Card spot in the league.
The slight shift down the ladder comes as a result of San Diego’s series loss to the New York Mets last week, where they won just one of three games in Queens. The 2-1 loss to open the series was the hardest to swallow, as three Padres were gunned down at the plate by Mets rookie outfielder Carson Benge twice and fellow rookie A.J. Ewing once in a span of just two innings.
San Diego bounced back and took the win in the second game before losing the series finale, marking their first series loss since July 23. It was a tough loss against a very winnable club for the Friars, but their response is what makes them a postseason team.
Instead of letting a series loss get the best of them, San Diego went out and swept the Minnesota Twins at home over the weekend. In three games, the Padres outscored the postseason-hopefuls by a score of 21-8. The Padres’ lineup didn’t score fewer than six runs in any of the three games over the weekend, indicative of an offense that’s getting hot at just the right time of the year.
A seven-run offensive night was enough to give the Padres a win on Saturday despite newly acquired starter Casey Mize allowing four runs in less than three innings. While Mize still finds his footing in a Padres uniform, it’s nice to have an offense clicking on all cylinders to give him some insurance.
Taking a step back and looking at the NL postseason picture, the Padres are two and four games back from the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs for the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively. They’ll be tough to catch, especially with the Phillies on nearly a double-digit win streak, but all the Padres really need is to stand firm in that final Wild Card position.
As previously mentioned, the Diamondbacks are the biggest threats at two games back, and then it’s the Miami Marlins at 4 games back and the St. Louis Cardinals at 5.5 games back for that final postseason spot.
Teeing off against teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees in the next couple of weeks, every game will matter for San Diego in fending off the NL teams in the hunt. First things first, however, continuing their win streak tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates comes first.
