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Fernando Tatis Jr. homered and drove in three runs Friday night, Dylan Cease pitched 6 2/3 innings and the visiting San Diego Padres opened a three-game weekend series with a 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tatis collected three hits and scored twice, while Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado also slugged homers as San Diego won its third straight game. The Padres finished with 12 hits and scored at least six runs for the fourth time in five games.

Cease (4-2) allowed three hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts. It marked his fourth win in five starts; he’s given up three or fewer hits in all four victories.

Slade Cecconi (1-2) retired the first nine batters he faced for Arizona but was hit hard his second time through the order. He was removed after Tatis’ RBI single in the fifth made it 5-0. Cecconi gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings, striking out four.

The Diamondbacks suffered their 10th loss in 15 games and it marked the 10th time in that stretch they’ve been held to three or fewer runs.

San Diego did all its damage in the fourth and fifth innings. After Jurickson Profar reached on a leadoff walk in the fourth, Tatis drilled a fastball an estimated 419 feet to left-center for his seventh homer of the season.

Cronenworth made it back-to-back homers when he jacked his sixth homer of the year an estimated 398 feet to right. Jackson Merrill added an RBI double to give the Padres a 4-0 lead.

An inning later, Tatis drove in another run with a single to left. One out later, Machado lined a sweeper from reliever Matt Bowman an estimated 381 feet to left with Tatis aboard to make it 7-0. It was Machado’s fifth homer.

Arizona got its run in the sixth via Eugenio Suarez’s RBI single to center that scored Joc Pederson, who led off the inning with a double.

–Field Level Media