Padres homer early, keep winning, start resting

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sep 24, 2025

Published in Baseball

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Tuesday night was about who played and who did not for the Padres.

And then there were the results.

The Padres beat the Brewers 7-0 at Petco Park while the Cubs lost, which may prove to have been a step toward the two teams playing in San Diego next week.

On the night shortstop Xander Bogaerts returned after missing 23 games with a fracture in his left foot, the Padres were powered by Ryan O’Hearn’s first-inning grand slam, a two-run homer by Luis Arraez in the second inning and Jose Iglesias’ solo homer in the eighth.

Bogaerts went 0-for-4 and made a number of plays in the field playing behind Randy Vásquez, who allowed one hit while making it through seven scoreless innings for the first time in his career.

Before that, a loss by the Reds assured the Padres would finish no worse than as the National League’s No. 5 seed, and the loss by the Cubs increased their chances at making it to the No.4 seed.

The Padres considered those things important.

But not so imperative that it kept manager Mike Shildt from starting Jose Iglesias at third base in place of Manny Machado and Mason McCoy at second base for Jake Cronenworth and Bryce Johnson in center field for Jackson Merrill.

Cronenworth, Machado and Merrill were joined on the sideline by Fernando Tatis Jr., though only figuratively, as he remained at home with an unspecified illness.

Ramón Laureano started in right field instead of his usual spot in left. Gavin Sheets was in left field instead of serving as designated hitter.

Robert Suarez and Adrian Morejón, who pitched three consecutive days, would have rested Tuesday (and almost certainly Wednesday too) even if it were June. But this week is certainly going to be about making sure the bullpen, which the team sees as its edge in the postseason, is strong going into October.

Those decisions were made and the lineup was posted hours before the start of other games that potentially carried significance to the Padres in terms of where (and possibly) who they play in their wild-card series that begins next Tuesday.

Getting a series at home, where their .636 winning percentage is .167 points better than on the road, would be a boon to the Padres.

“We’re going to be mindful about putting ourselves in the best position to be ready and healthy and really compete on Tuesday,” Shildt said. “But also, you know, we want to be here and play on Tuesday as well.”

That is more likely than it has been for weeks, as the Padres trail the Cubs by just 1½ games in a race that will almost certainly determine where the two teams meet next week.

The Padres can catch the Cubs by winning their four remaining games while the Cubs go no better than 3-2; or by winning three of four if the Cubs go no better than 2-3; or by going 2-3 if the Cubs win just once; or by winning once if the Cubs’ current five-game losing streak becomes an 11-game losing streak.

The Padres are also technically still alive in the NL West race, though the Dodgers were beating the Diamondbacks late Tuesday in a bid to maintain their 2½-game lead.

The Padres’ big win this week was already accomplished — the victory on Monday that assured them a playoff spot.

And the big-picture win stemming from that win was that the Padres could take the remaining five games to give rest to players as they see fit going into the postseason.

Said Shildt: “We accomplished the right to set ourselves up.”

It is a dual track of a want and a need that the Padres are navigating.

They want to play their wild-card series at home. But wherever they play, they need to be as close to full strength as possible.

“You don’t want to be with your feet in two different places,” Shildt said Tuesday afternoon. “But we are in, so we’re submitted there. And now we’re really clear about (that) we’re not going to give anything away. We look to compete. And I want to be here Tuesday night playing in front of the best fans in baseball. But we are going to be smart about giving some guys some rest.”

Machado started the Padres’ first 149 games and had sat one game all season before Tuesday. Merrill had played all but two innings while starting 19 consecutive games since coming off the injured list. Cronenworth had started the previous 31 games at second base or shortstop and had started all but three of the Padres’ 121 games since he came off the injured list on May 9.

“They’ve been grinding,” Shildt said. “We bypassed a couple days off for some guys. … And so now we’re getting some guys off their feet. But they’ll be back on them.”

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