Once upon a time, Walker Buehler was considered a big-game pitcher. Likewise, Fernando Tatis Jr. was one of the game’s most dangerous hitters.
Perhaps both are rounding into form at just the right time.
Buehler spun a third straight quality start, Tatis homered twice and the Padres beat up on the Twins’ bullpen for a second straight day to secure a sweep via an 8-1 win in front of a crowd of 40,103 on Sunday at Petco Park.
“It’s nice,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said after his team improved to an MLB-best 21-7 since July 24. “It’s not always how you start the season, but how you finish it. Those guys are playing their best baseball in August. Everybody is kind of wearing down a little bit and they’re peaking.
“It’s nice for our ballclub.”
Clearly.
The Padres’ postseason odds sat at just over 7% after losing their second straight series coming out of the All-Star break. Even with the Phillies and Diamondbacks both winning on Sunday, those odds — with the team 11 games above .500 for the first time since May 23 — have ballooned to 70.9%, as calculated by FanGraphs.com.
The Padres are two games up on the Diamondbacks in the race for the NL’s final wild-card spot and two games behind the streaking Phillies, winners of nine in a row and the NL’s second wild-card team.
“It’s awesome, man,” Tatis said. “Especially at this time of the year, you know, we have struggles that we faced this year. So you know, cleaning it up and coming together as a team is huge. It’s right where we wanted to be. So from now, it’s sprint all the way to the end.”
Tatis’ eighth-inning homer padded the Padres’ lead and gave him 12 since the All-Star break, most in the majors. He’s up to 17 on the season and finally has an OPS over .800 — .814 to be exact — for the first time this season after driving in four runs on four hits on Sunday.
“Maybe three months of struggling,” Tatis said with a laugh about what it’s taken to turn his season around. “No, I’m kidding, but man, just, baseball is a game of adjustments. So whoever’s making the right adjustments right now is whoever (is) one step ahead.”
His third-inning blast was all the Padres mustered off Twins right-hander Bailey Ober. But Ober was at 87 pitches after five innings. So with the left-handed Jackson Merrill due up to start the sixth, Twins manager Derek Shelton called on left-hander Kody Funderburk.
The move backfired almost immediately.
Merrill was thrown out trying to steal second base after reaching on an error. Funderburk walked the next two batters and right-hander Jeff Hoffman walked Xander Bogaerts immediately upon entering the game to load the bases.
Luis Rengifo then slipped a grounder inside the first-base line and Tatis singled to center, opening a 5-1 lead for Buehler to hand to his bullpen.
Merrill’s solo shot in the seventh — his second in as many days and 11th since the All-Star break — and Tatis’ eighth-inning blast enabled the Padres to rest their high-leverage relievers.
Wandy Peralta (2 IP) and Yuki Matsui (1 IP) finished the last three frames.
“We’re doing a lot of things that help you in the postseason, right?” Buehler said. “You’ve got to hit elite relievers. You have to beat big-boy starters, and we’re doing a lot of things really well.”
San Diego, CA – San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler, No. 10, throws a pitch during a game against the Minnesota Twins Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, at Petco Park in San Diego, CA. (Luke Johnson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Buehler faced the minimum through 4⅔ innings, benefiting from double-play balls to erase the singles that he allowed in the first and fourth innings. Even the run he allowed in the fifth was hardly a mistake as Brooks Lee offered at a cutter under the strike zone and yanked it over the wall in right to tie the game at 1-1.
Buehler then allowed a shift-beating double to Alan Roden on a ball several inches off the plate, but he escaped the inning without further damage, struck out two in a perfect sixth inning and exited with a lead after 87 pitches (62 strikes).
Buehler’s third straight quality start doubled the number he had thrown through his first 22 starts of the season. After posting a disastrous 9.82 ERA in July, Buehler has posted a 2.73 ERA through five starts in August.
“I think he smells the postseason,” Stammen said. “That’s one thing that’s part of his career is being a part of that every single year. So he smells that. He knows the team needs the quality starts. He also sees the other starters doing really well, and I think internally that motivates him. And he’s just been able to make a lot of really good pitches here lately.”