DENVER — The Padres built a five-run lead Monday night, then spent the rest of the game making sure it held up. With their postseason position on the line, they found enough offense — and one more save from Mason Miller — to keep their winning streak rolling.
Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered as San Diego beat the Colorado Rockies 8-7, matching its longest winning streak of the season at eight games and securing a fifth consecutive winning season for the first time in franchise history.
The Padres (82-68) maintained a 2½-game lead over Arizona for the final National League wild-card berth and moved within one game of Philadelphia for the second spot. Ty France and Jackson Merrill each collected three hits in the victory. Reuters
Machado opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning, his 28th of the season and 397th of his career. Colorado answered in the bottom half on TJ Rumfield’s RBI single, but San Diego took control with four runs in the second.
Jake Cronenworth delivered a go-ahead RBI single and Freddy Fermin added a sacrifice fly before Tatis launched a two-run homer 449 feet. Merrill followed with a run-scoring single in the third, extending the Padres’ advantage to 6-1.
That cushion proved necessary against a Colorado lineup that finished with 14 hits, one more than San Diego. The Rockies trimmed the deficit to 6-5 by the end of the sixth inning, forcing the Padres to keep producing late.
France’s RBI single in the seventh gave San Diego a two-run lead before Colorado answered in the bottom half. Dustin Harris supplied another important run with an RBI double in the eighth, and the Rockies again responded with a run to make it 8-7.
Miller finally stopped the exchange, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth for his 37th save in 39 opportunities. He is tied with St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien for the National League lead.
Padres starter Casey Mize improved to 6-9 after allowing two runs on eight hits in five innings. It was his second victory since San Diego acquired him from Detroit on Aug. 3, and just the fourth time in 111 major league starts that he finished without a strikeout.
Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano surrendered six runs on eight hits over five innings. He fell to 12-10 and is 0-5 over his past six starts.
San Diego improved to 9-1 against Colorado this season and has won 19 of the teams’ past 23 meetings. The Rockies (55-95), meanwhile, dropped their eighth consecutive game and fell to 5-21 since Aug. 16.
The series continues Tuesday with Padres right-hander Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.61 ERA) scheduled to face Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.37 ERA).