The San Diego Padres were able to exhale after completing a dizzying stretch of 26 games in 27 days.
After enjoying a rare day off on Thursday, the Padres will be back in action on Friday when they play the opener of a three-game series against the host Cincinnati Reds.
“I could not be (prouder) of this team for the way they’ve handled this stretch,” San Diego manager Mike Shildt said following his team’s 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. “My admiration and appreciation and love for this team is even higher than it was — which is saying something, because I’ve got much respect and admiration for this club.
“You talk about being battle tested, the season will do that. … That’s what great teams have — guys that just get it done.”
Luis Arraez collected three singles on Wednesday and drove in the game’s only run in the second inning. The three-time batting champion, who is riding a 12-game hitting streak, was shuttled into the leadoff spot in the lineup while Fernando Tatis Jr. moved to the cleanup position.
San Diego’s Dylan Cease (3-6, 4.43 ERA) will oppose Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez (4-8, 4.40) on Friday in a battle of right-handers.
Cease answered a disastrous start with a stellar one on Saturday, allowing one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Cease, 29, is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against the Reds.
Padres closer Robert Suarez saw his three-game suspension for hitting Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani reduced to two by Major League Baseball on Wednesday afternoon. He sat out San Diego’s series finale against Washington on Wednesday and will do the same in the team’s series opener on Friday.
Nick Pivetta spared the bullpen by scattering three hits and matching a season high with 10 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. Relievers Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon both fanned a batter and did not allow a hit over one scoreless inning each to preserve the win.
“We have each other’s back,” Estrada said, per the San Diego Union-Tribune. “(On Wednesday), we couldn’t have Suarez. Pivetta has a dime of a game. He keeps that game 1-0, shoving, getting out of tough situations and just giving us the seven innings, and then (the bullpen) being able to go work.”
Martinez, 34, has not allowed a hit over three scoreless innings in relief over his last two outings after surrendering six homers over his previous two trips to the mound.
He is 0-3 with a 6.89 ERA in three career starts against the Padres.
Cincinnati saw its three-game winning streak come to a halt with a 7-1 setback to the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
Despite the loss, the Reds remain high about the direction of the team.
“I (told someone), ‘We’re a playoff team.’ And I really believe that we are a playoff team, and we’ve just got to stay healthy and continuing to play team baseball,” the Reds’ Gavin Lux said, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I think at the end of it, we’re gonna be where we want to be, as long as we stay healthy and keep going on the trend that we’re going on. We have the talent in this room, too.”
Elly De La Cruz had two of the Reds’ four hits on Wednesday. He has 11 hits — including two homers — five RBIs and six runs during his six-game hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
