Padres starting pitching came alive on Wednesday afternoon, as Nick Pivetta powered San Diego to a much-needed 7-1 victory.
Both the starting pitching and offense had been pedestrian—not only in the first two games of this series, but also during the Detroit Tigers series. On Wednesday, at least one of those issues was fixed.
“I think today was an example of the type of team that we expected and have,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Expected in spring training, what we saw in spring training a lot, and then able to play a little bit looser today and have some fun, It’s a lot easier when you get a starting pitcher that goes five shutout.”
Pivetta led the way with five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out eight on 82 pitches. It was a strong bounce-back performance after a shaky Opening Day outing, in which he allowed six runs over three innings against Detroit.
“I can't really put my thumb on it, but I think it's just the me being me and getting consistently back in the zone,” Pivetta said about what was different Wednesday than Opening Day. “Attacking with my heater and a lot of my off speed pitches to work when they need to.”
Offensively, the Padres have struggled to find consistency. They showed signs of life in Saturday’s win to avoid a sweep against the Tigers, and Wednesday’s performance carried a similar feel.
San Diego capitalized on two key errors that led to runs. In the first inning, Casey Schmitt’s fielding error allowed Manny Machado to score and give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, Gavin Sheets doubled to right field. After Freddy Fermin and Bryce Johnson were retired, Sheets advanced to third. Xander Bogaerts then hit a grounder that Matt Chapman threw toward Schmitt, but the ball glanced off his glove. Instead of ending the inning, the Padres added a run—charged as an error to Chapman—to extend the lead to 2-0.
“Nick came out and gave us a huge start, and offense really built off that and then big finish,” Sheets said.
The offense broke through further in the sixth. Ramón Laureano and Jake Cronenworth opened the inning with singles, setting up Sheets, who delivered his second double of the game to drive in Laureano and make it 3-0.
The Giants responded in the seventh when Harrison Bader singled to left, bringing home former Padre Luis Arráez to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Laureano provided insurance in the eighth, launching his second home run of the season—a two-run shot to left-center after Machado reached on a double—pushing the lead to 5-1.
Stammen was asked after the game whether Laureano could move up in the batting order, especially with the lineup still being tinkered with and two home runs from Laureano in this home stretch. Stammen gave credit to bench coach Randy Knorr for Wednesday’s lineup.
“Same thing I've been saying this whole time, I can hit one through zero,” Laureano said. “So just saying they have a ball and they trying to throw strikes in this 17 inch home plate and just hunt for that area.”
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Apr 1, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Ramón Laureano (5), right, is congratulated by Manny Machado (13) after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park.
The Padres added two more runs later in the inning. After loading the bases, Fernando Tatis Jr. brought Cronenworth home with an infield single, and Bogaerts followed with a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-1.
Despite the seven-run output, the Padres still have work to do offensively, especially considering they were one game away from being swept by the Giants. They now sit at 2-4 early in the season.
“We're going to play better here at Petco,” Stammen said. “That's what we've done in the past, and we're going to continue to continue to do it. This was probably an outlier week for us.”
San Diego will have Thursday off before beginning a six-game road trip, starting with three games against the Boston Red Sox, followed by three in Pittsburgh. Michael King is scheduled to face Sonny Gray on Friday, April 3 at 11:10 a.m. PT.