Sept. 14 — Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in his third consecutive game, Dylan Cease struck out six in six scoreless innings and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 5–0 to capture the National League wild-card standings and moved ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Combined with Arizona’s 2-1 home loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the win puts the Padres (83-65) atop the NFC wild-card race, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks (82-65).
In the first game of a three-game series, San Diego wasted no time attacking Giants starter Logan Weber (12-10). Luis Arraez singled on the All-Star’s second pitch, and two pitches later, Tatis hit his 17th home run over the center field fence.
The Padres added their third run in the inning on Manny Machado’s single, Xander Bogaerts’s wild pitch and RBI double.
San Diego took a 4-0 lead in the fourth quarter on a Webb turnover before Ocean (13-11) mounted a strong performance.
The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks in 97 pitches. Even the Giants’ biggest hit of the night was snuffed out when right fielder Tatis and second baseman Jake Cronenworth threw to Heliot Ramos in the sixth inning in an attempt to tie the score with a single base, but it ultimately worked.
It’s the last game of the season. Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Jeremy Estrada combine to retire the Giants’ final nine batters and complete the shutout.
The Padres completed the scoring in the ninth inning when Machado’s second hit of the game, a double, scored pinch runner Brandon Lockridge, who stole second base on the No. 1 pitch of his major league career.
Weber was taken out after four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits (3 ERA). He walked one and struck out four.
Arraez went 3-for-4 with three singles, raising his NL-leading batting average to .320. It was his 18th game this season with at least three hits.
Arauz also walked and allowed a hit in the ninth inning in his seventh four-hit game of 2024, but he struck out against Camilo Doval.
Rookie star Jackson Merrill had two doubles and a single, while Jurickson Profar had two singles for the Padres, who recorded their 13th shutout win of the season.
Bailey had a home run for the Giants (72-76), who were 9 1/2 games out of the final NFC wild-card spot with 14 games remaining.
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