Donovan Solano collected three doubles among his four hits, Joe Musgrove combined with two relievers on a five-hitter and the San Diego Padres made it two shutout wins in a row over the host San Francisco Giants with an 8-0 triumph Saturday night.
The win not only moved the Padres (84-65) to 1 1/2 games ahead of the rest of the pack in the National League wild-card race, but also creep within 3 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers (87-61), who sit atop the NL West.
For the second night in a row, the Padres scored in the top of the first inning and never looked back. This time, it was Manny Machado’s two-out double and subsequent throwing error by center fielder Heliot Ramos that brought home Jurickson Profar.
Xander Bogaerts made it 2-0 in the fourth with his 10th home run before the Padres broke the game open with three in the fifth and three more in the eighth.
Machado had a two-run single to highlight the fifth-inning uprising, while Jackson Merrill lashed a two-run double in the eighth.
Six of the Padres’ runs came after Giants starter Mason Black (0-4) was removed after four innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) and six hits, walking one and striking out two.
Musgrove (6-5) coasted through six innings, allowing just three hits: singles by LaMonte Wade Jr. in the second, Mark Canha in the third and Patrick Bailey in the fifth. He didn’t walk any batters and struck out eight.
Adrian Morejon and Alex Jacob combined to allow just two hits over three innings of relief to cap the Padres’ 14th shutout of the season.
Solano’s four-hit game was the 10th of his career. He had four during a three-year stint with the Giants, including one against the Padres in 2020.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits and scored twice, Luis Arraez and Profar also had a pair of runs, and Machado, Merrill, Arraez and Kyle Higashioka finished with two hits apiece for the Padres, who outhit the hosts 17-5.
The shutout loss was the third straight for the Giants (72-77), who fell 9 1/2 games out of the final NL wild-card spot with just 13 games remaining.
–Field Level Media