Dylan Cease lights out in Padres series win over Cardinals

SAN DIEGO -  This is where the rubbers meets the road if you are Padres pitcher Dylan Cease, who avoided getting dealt during the trade deadline and tossed a gem on Sunday during the San Diego Padres 7-3 rubber match win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park.  

The right-hander went five inning without allowing a run and gave up only a hit and a walk with nine strikeouts on 90 pitches. He left the game sitting down seven consecutive batters and the only hit he allowed happening during the first inning to Iván Herrera.

"Felt great," Cease said. "First inning was a little rough and longer than I wanted. Probably kept me from going a little deeper but anytime you put up zeros, it's really great... I really just want to contribute. We have a great team. We feel good about ourselves and I want to be a part of it." 

"Dylan (Cease) was fantastic," Padres' manager Mike Shildt said. "(Cease) recovered from a longer first inning, 28 pitches, able to sit at 90 (pitches) and go to our bullpen from there." 

With Cease staying in the 619 and all the moves the Padres made at the deadline, it not only gives the team an intimidating starting rotation, but it also allows Shildt the option to have all-star reliever Jason Adam to come in for the sixth inning and retire the top of the Cardinals order on 12 pitches. His appearance on Sunday is the earliest Adam has entered a game for the Padres this season. 

"Very scary," Shildt said when asked how scary the rotation can be when healthy. "It's very encouraging. We're very excited. (Yu) Darvish is building off his seven innings, Nick's (Pivetta) has been great, Michael (King), from what I understand, was good today in his rehab."  

The Padres turned to Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan for the seventh and eighth inning. Estrada put up an impressive frame, nearly tossing an immaculate inning, and Morgan, after walking the first batter, struck out the next three.  

The Padres went to all-star reliever Adrian Morejon for the ninth inning but would get pulled after not recording a single out and surrendering three runs. Robert Suárez came in to close out the game and ended the game with an emphatic line-out catch from Masyn Winn. 

"I couldn't have been more pleased with the whole game," Shildt said. "I mean, it was almost an unblemished game."

Giving themselves the cushion on one side, the Padres offensively continued to work their way around the diamond finishing the game with 10 hits. However, it's worth mentioning that they finished 1-for-7 with RISP and left seven stranded.

They finished the series 6-for-21 with RISP and 19 LOB despite scoring 17 runs and having 26 hits through the weekend.

They scored the games first two-runs during the fourth inning after Jake Cronenworth blasted a four-seam fastball 398 ft to right-center field to score him and Ramón Laureano, who reached on base with a single.  

"I think everybody who's been here, all the new guys have pitched in and have found a way to help us win a game," Cronenworth said. "All those guys have gotten in the game and impacted it in a great way." 

Then later during the seventh inning, Jackson Merrill cleared the bases after hitting his fourth triple down the first base line to score new Padre Freddy Fermin, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Merrill would come in to score on sac-fly by Xander Bogaerts to make it a 6-0 lead.  

"Jackson is a good player," Shildt said. "(He) started where he left off last year. As we know got sidetracked a couple different times... (He) went through a stretch there for a couple weeks where, you know, the game is the game. You know it's going to get you at some point occasionally... Jackson's a good player, he's a winner, he's got a part of a line. He's got the championship pedigree and his mentality and the way he approaches it." 

Going against Cardinals reliever Roddery Muñoz in the eighth inning, Laureano out dualed the righty, smashing a solo shot over the heart of the plate 105 mph off the bat for his 16th homer and his first for his new team to tack on the lead. 

"It feels great," Laureano said on contributing early on since the trade from the Orioles. "A little weight off your shoulders too." 

Owning a 62-50 record, the Padres are now three games behind the Dodgers (65-47) for first place in the NL West and four games ahead of the Reds (58-54) for the last NL Wild Card spot. On Monday, the team will enter a crucial stretch of the season with 16 of the following 19 games coming against division rivals (3 G vs ARI, 6 G vs LAD, 7 G vs SF).