The San Diego Padres continue their improved performance after the trade deadline. In a series against the Boston Red Sox at home and a road series versus San Francisco, the Friars take five-of-six to improve their record to 69-52. With the Dodgers slumping and the Padres surging, the Friars are in first place by a game and the Dodgers are now fighting for a wild card spot.

Starter Nick Pivetta made two starts over the week for 12.2 innings pitched, but had a rare bad outing versus the Red Sox that increased his ERA to 2.87. Newcomer Nestor Cortes pitched 4.2 innings in his second start after coming off the IL. He allowed six hits and one run against the Giants.

Michael King came off the IL, throwing 2 innings with four hits and two runs allowed against the Red Sox, but battled with his location on some pitches. Yu Darvish threw with less velocity, but still looked like Darvish with six innings, allowing four hits and a run.

The Padres bullpen continues its dominance with five horses now instead of four. The 2.97 ERA for the bullpen remains tops in baseball. The addition of Mason Miller gives the starters an even bigger cushion of comfort. Miller, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, Yuki Matsui, Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam all allowed no runs for the week.

The Padres offense had begun to improve before the deadline. They had improved numbers since the All-Star break. But there were still issues with the bottom of the order turning over the lineup or driving in runs.

Over the last 17 games, the Padres are 14-3, equaling their record to begin the season. Left fielder Ramón Laureano consistently bats in the bottom three of the lineup. His OPS sits at 1.000 with a .333 average and 10 RBI since joining the team.

Catcher Freddy Fermin has an .878 OPS with a .355 average and 5 RBI for the 15 games and normally hits ninth. He also has done well catching the pitching staff with minimal preparation, an issue that many brought up as a possible problem when bringing a new catcher into a team late in the season.

Second baseman Jake Cronenworth now hits in the bottom third of the line up and has really stepped it up. He is hitting .316 with a .916 OPS and 11 RBI over the past 15 games.

For the past week, Laureano sits .400 with a 1.193 OPS. Fermin is hitting .267 with a .734 OPS and Cronenworth is at .313 with a .815 OPS.

Collectively for the week, the bottom of the order is 19-for-65 with 11 runs scored, two homers and 15 RBI. The Friars offense now sits sixth in baseball over the past 15 games with a .267 average. Their .356 OBP is second and their .769 OPS is ninth.

Gavin Sheets takes a back seat

With the acquisition of Ryan O’Hearn the Padres have a player that profiles remarkably like Gavin Sheets. Both left-handed, both play first and left field and both have DH experience. The numbers have pushed Sheets to the bench for most of the games. For the season, Sheets has a .250 average and .736 OPS. O’Hearn has a .275 average with an .824 OPS for the season with 14 HR and 47 RBI, while Sheets has 15 HR and 54 RBI. Sheets has appeared in four of 15 games, while O’Hearn has been in 10 games.

While all Padres fans remain puzzled regarding the disappearance of Tatis’ homerun power, he still is performing at a high level with a .400 average and 1.110 OPS with two doubles and 4 RBI over the past week. He also did this:

Just the latest of many spectacular plays made by the platinum-glove winner.

He also had two stolen bases for the week and 24 for the year, tied for 12th in baseball.

The Padres are hitting on all cylinders at the right time. They have 10 games over the next 10 days against the Dodgers and Giants. That is followed by three against the Seattle Mariners before another day off. This portion of the schedule presents a real test for the newly restocked Padres.

This article was written before the result of the first game of the series between the Padres and Dodgers, Friday.