SAN DIEGO – Home runs proved the difference for the second night in a row, as the San Diego Padres fell to the power bats of the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Wednesday night at Petco Park.

Padres (49-43) pitchers allowed four home runs for the first time in 2025, as starter Dylan Cease got touched up for a trio — including Geraldo Perdomo hitting the Diamondbacks’ (46-47) ninth grand slam of the season in the fifth inning to blow the game open.

“This game is challenging sometime because you do things and you look out and see… first pitch strikes, chase, all the good metrics are in Dylan’s favor,” said manager Mike Shildt. “When you have good stuff, you get away with some mistakes and he’s just not. The Perdomo ball was the biggest mistake in a place that he likes it, but we also be able to score for (Cease) too.”

Gavin Sheets hit a majestically arcing 437-foot solo home to right field in the seventh inning, his 14th of the season and one off his career-high set in 124 games during the 2022 season. It was his 50th RBI of the season in just his 89th game, three away from his MLB high-water mark also in ‘22.

But Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt made the longest start of his third-year MLB career, going eight innings and allowing just four hits and two runs, not allowing a walk and striking out three. He finished with 99 pitches and didn’t throw more than 18 in an inning as he became the first Arizona starter to pitch through the eighth inning this season in earning his ninth win.

Pfaadt stranded Fernando Tatis Jr. after a lead off double in the first, and wasn’t troubled again until the fifth when Xander Bogaerts singled and Jake Cronenworth doubled. The Padres got just a run out of it as Bryce Johnson hit into an RBI groundout then pinch-hitter Trenton Brooks struck out with the Brown and Gold behind 6-1.

“(We) put some good at bats on him, just couldn’t get enough consistency in the at bats, he kept us off balance. He did a great job, eight innings, that’s a really nice job,” Shildt said.

After a four-game stretch without allowing a home run, Cease gave up multiple long balls for the third start in a row. It was the most he’s allowed in a game since being acquired by the Padres and most since allowing three as a member of the White Sox to the Royals on September 5, 2023.

Trouble started in the third inning, as following getting through the first seven Diamondbacks batters in only 22 pitches, Cease threw three straight fastballs to James McCann. On the third, the catcher turned up on the up-and-in heater and launched it 434 feet to the second deck in left field for his second homer of the season.

Then in the fourth Eugenio Suárez jumped on a first pitch slider left middle-away, hitting his team-leading 29th home run just barely over the wall in left field despite a leaping attempt by Johnson.

The crushing blow came an inning later, as Ketel Marte took four straight pitches outside the zone after fouling off a first pitch slider to load the bases with two outs — Cease’s second walk of the inning. Perdomo then clubbed a knee-high middle fastball out to the corner in right field for his 10th home run.

“When you trend in a lot of positive areas, consistently with the kind of stuff that Dylan has all you can do is just keep going,” Shildt said. “Eventually those balls will be fly outs, ground balls or foul balls, but tonight they weren’t.”

The San Diego starter threw six complete innings, allowing five hits and six runs with eight strikeouts and three walks as he lost his third straight decision and ninth overall. Wandy Peralta got three strikeouts while allowing a hit and a walk in one inning, while Eduarniel Núñez threw the final two innings with two runs allowed on two hits with a walk, a strikeout and a hit by pitch.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled to start the eight and came home on a ground out by Tristin English, then Corbin Carroll hit his 21st home run of the season off Núñez in the ninth, a solo shot.

The Padres will look to stalemate the four-game set, sending Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.79 ERA) to the hill against Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez (3-5, 5.78 ERA) for the 6:40 p.m. first pitch on Thursday night at Petco Park.

This story was updated at 9:44 p.m.