Pivetta Dominates as Padres Snap Slump in 7-1 Win
Fernando Ramirez
Host · Writer
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
