SAN DIEGO – Building where he left off last weekend, right-hander Dylan Cease put on another strong performance on the mound during the San Diego Padres 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday at Petco Park. 

Padres manager Mike Shildt said yesterday’s post game press conference that he needs his starting pitchers to go deeper into games in order for their bullpen to showcase its dominance. Speaking it into existence, Shildt got what he wanted from his starter, which was followed up with three scoreless innings from his pen, combining for one hit and six strikeouts. 

In his team leading 24th start of the season, Cease (5-10, 4.52 ERA) dominated through six innings, giving up two earned runs, four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts on 89 pitches (57 strikes counted).

“Dylan (Cease) was fantastic again and in control the whole way,” Shildt said. “I thought he threw the ball extremely well… He did more than his part. And that’s exactly what we need out of our starters to be be able to do just that.You see it all year, you pay attention to it. And he just continued to be continued to be more consistent. You know, he’s just throwing the ball where he wants to. He’s controlling counts better.” 

“These last couple (of starts) have been good,” Cease said. “Really outside of one pitch against the Mets, I really have had a good second half. But at the end of the day, I really just care about winning and providing a solid start.” 

Reliever Jason Adam came in to replace Cease during the seventh inning after Cease surrendered a walk and single to the first two Red Sox batters. Beginning the day with a first pitch plunk, Adam could not keep Cease’s scoreless streak, giving up two-runs against Romy Gonzalez, who reached on a fielder’s choice and a fielding error by Xander Bogaerts. 

“You get punched in the face in baseball sometimes,” Adam said referring to Friday’s 10-2 loss. “When you can bounce back the next day or even in the middle of the game and punch back, that’s huge. I think it’s a testament to all the guys in here.” 

However, the bullpen came alive and got themselves out of a bases loaded jam with no-outs. Adam and Adrian Morejon, who entered the game with two-outs, struck out three in-a-row, including sitting down Roman Anthony during a pivotal six pitch at-bat that electrified Morejon and the 43,323 fans (52nd sell-out) present at Petco Park. 

Morejon recorded the first out during the eighth inning and was replaced by right-hander David Morgan to acquire the last two outs.  

Finishing the afternoon with nine hits and a pair of extra-base-hits, the offense continued to set the tone with timely hits and tremendous hustle running the bases. 

“The pitching was in concert but I thought the offense dictated the game and I just loved the consistency of the at-bats,” Shildt said. “Our guys care factor in effort levels really beyond question. We do all the little things that you want to see on a field from my seat… Effort is not something to be taken for granted. It is something we expect, but you know it’s what the guys do. They show up to win, they show up to play the game the right way.”  

The Padres, in the third inning, scored the game’s first pair of runs on starting pitcher Brayan Bello (8-6, 3.25 ERA) with two-outs, starting with a single to center field by Freddy Fermin, followed by Fernando Tatis Jr. getting hit by a pitch and capped off with a two-run double by Luis Arraez to left-center field. 

The Friars tacked on another run to make 3-0 during the bottom of the fifth inning after Tatis Jr., who was called out at second base, sneaked a RBI ground ball single to left field that brought in Jake Cronenworth. 

In the next frame, two more runners came across starting with an RBI fly-ball single by Bogaerts, who brought in third baseman Manny Machado. Between Bello and reliever Chris Murphy, they would walk three consecutive batters, which included an RBI walk against Cronenworth.   

After leading off with back-to-back singles, the Padres added on their seventh run following Ryan O’Hearn’s sac-fly to left-field that scored Tatis Jr. 

The Brown and Gold finished the series 6-for-25 with RISP and stranded 31 runners on base, and defensively, the Padres have held their opponents in check over the last five games, clipping a .125 opponent’s average (6-for-48) with RISP.

Going 1-for-2 with double, a walk and a RBI, Cronenworth extended his on base streak to 15 games. Also, Arraez has now reached base in his past 13 games against the Red Sox, dating back to April 18, 2022.

With their series win, the Padres (66-52) are two games behind the Dodgers (68-50) for first place in the NL West. They also still hold second place spot in the NL Wild Card, sitting ahead of the Mets (63-55) by three games.Â