Dylan Cease struck out 10 batters in six shutout innings and three relievers held on as the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 at Oracle Park on Friday night.
Padres starter Cease (13-11, 3.58 ERA) was awesome as he held the Giants to four hits and two walks in his six scoreless innings. He also hit a milestone in the third inning when he collected his 1,000th career strikeout.
Of San Diego’s 12 hits on the night, Luis Arraez recorded three and a walk. He extended his streak to 129 straight at-bats without striking out.
Jackson Merrill scored from second base on a throwing error by Giants starter Logan Webb in the fourth inning and Manny Machado extended the 5-0 lead with his ninth-inning RBI-double.
The Padres (83-65) will look to win the three-game series on Saturday night.
Here are the takeaways:
TATIS AND BOGAERTS STRIKE EARLY
Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a two-run 433-foot homer before the Padres even recorded their first out of the game. Xander Bogaerts hit an RBI double later in the inning, bringing in Machado to give San Diego an early 3-0 lead.
NL WILD CARD RACE UPDATE
With the Diamondbacks losing 2-1 earlier, the Padres now take a half-game lead on them. The Mets only trail the Padres by 1 ½ games for the final wild-card spot.
The Padres only have 14 games left until the postseason, with two crucial series coming up against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
KIM INJURY UPDATE
Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation and his recovery has been a little slower than expected. He was scheduled to throw on Friday but has been experiencing issues with his throwing.
Right hander Joe Musgrove (5-5, 4.64 ERA) will face Giants right hander Mason Black (0-3, 7.50 ERA) in the second game at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night.