The San Diego Padres played the first seven games of a ten game home stand against the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. They ended the stretch with a 4-3 record and are 50-43 overall. During the stretch, Manny Machado got his 2000th hit with a single to the 5.5 hole. He also homered in the game against the Dbacks, which was also notable for the first start of the season for Yu Darvish. The Padres won the series versus the Rangers 2-1 and split the series with the Dbacks. They remain just outside the Wild Card standings, a half game back of San Francisco.

Pitching clarity and greatness

Starter Randy Vasquez got two starts over the seven games, going a total of 10.1 innings and allowed eight hits and four earned runs for a 3.50 ERA. July 6 versus the Rangers featured a bullpen game with David Morgan opening and followed by Kyle Hart to cover the first five innings.

Stephen Kolek started on July 5, got hit hard and was sent down to El Paso to allow Kyle Hart to come up for the bullpen game.

The Padres four high leverage relievers, now dubbed the Four Horseman by manager Mike Shildt, were star performers for the week and three of the four were named to the All-Star game. The four combined for 12 innings pitched with seven hits and one earned run for a .075 ERA. The run was allowed by Jason Adam, who was named to the All-Star game initially with Robert Suarez and Adrian Morejon added as replacement players for pitchers who withdrew. Jeremiah Estrada, the fourth of the group, had a brief rough patch earlier in the season and carries a 3.08 ERA. Morejon has a 1.71 ERA and a 7-3 record (most wins for a reliever), Adam has a 1.74 ERA and Suarez has a 3.63 ERA with 27 saves, leading the National League.

This is the first time in MLB history that three relievers from the same team have made an All-Star game.

Dylan Cease struggled again in his start against Arizona. He threw six innings with five hits and six runs allowed with eight strikeouts. This one featured multiple homers for the third straight start. Cease now carries a 4.88 ERA and a 3-9 record.

We have an offense

The offense has shown signs of life over the past week with the Padres top hitters all achieving a .250 average or better, with the exception of the struggling Jackson Merrill. Manny Machado leads with 3 HR and 4 RBI for a .829 OPS. Jake Cronenworth hit a double, a HR and had 5 RBI for a 1.011 OPS. Fernando Tatis Jr hit two doubles, a triple and homer for 3 RBI and a .968 OPS. Luis Arraez hit .357 with a HR and 3 RBI for a .818 OPS. Gavin Sheets is hitting .360 for the week with a HR and a RBI with a .867 OPS. As the season has progressed, Sheets has improved versus lefties and has a .280 average with a .259 average against righties. Thirteen of his homers are against righties with only one against lefties.

The unlikely ace

Nick Pivetta loves Petco Park. On his home turf, Pivetta has a 2.30 ERA and 6-0 record in 58.2 innings pitched. He has 67 K’s and 11 BB, allowing five homers.

On the road, Pivetta has pitched to a 4.09 ERA in 44 innings and a 3-2 record. He has 47 K’s and 16 BB with 7 HR on the road. Overall, Pivetta leads the active starters with a 3.07 ERA and a 9-2 record. He has been the stopper on this team and is only below Michael King in ERA with King being on the IL since May 25.

The black hole continues

There are often two spots on the hitting order that are underperforming and have to be improved. Despite the argument that the Padres two catchers don’t need to be able to hit to be important to the team, the lack of production from Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado is not acceptable for a team trying to get to the post-season.

Maldonado is hitting .175 for the season with a .512 OPS. Diaz has a .198 average and .567 OPS. They have 21 RBI combined and 103 strikeouts in 308 at bats, a 33% K rate.

Sometime DH Trenton Brooks has 33 at bats with a .152 average and a .479 OPS.

Roster moves and injury updates

Michael King threw his first bullpen July 10 and it is possible he could be ready to join the rotation in August. There was no structural damage with his injury and his return could come quickly if his strength can be built up over the next couple of weeks.

Joe Musgrove threw off the mound for the first time on July 9. He reported feeling good with no issues. His fastball was reported to reach 80 mph. He is also playing catch at 120 feet with extending to 150 feet planned in the next two weeks. The goal is for actual bullpen action in August.

Ryan Bergert completed his IL stint with a start in El Paso and is back in the Padres rotation.

Yu Darvish reported no issues after his first start and is slotted to start July 12.

Reliever Eduarniel Nuñez came up July 2 to bolster the bullpen and was sent to El Paso when Bergert was activated on July 11.

Kyle Hart was brought up on July 6 for the bullpen game and Stephen Kolek was optioned to El Paso. Hart was optioned back to El Paso the next day.

The Padres now have five starters on the active roster and eight relievers.