SAN DIEGO -- The Padres are unbeatable at Petco Park this season, using the simplest of formulas: You can't lose if you don't allow runs. And good luck scoring against this pitching staff right now.
The Rockies didn't do it once all weekend.
On Sunday afternoon, it was Michael King¡¯s turn to dominate. He went the distance for the first shutout of his career, as the Padres recorded their sixth team-wide shutout of the season in a 6-0 victory.
The Padres outscored Colorado 16-0 over the weekend -- the first time any MLB team has held an opponent scoreless for an entire series of at least three games since Cleveland blanked Kansas City in 2017. The Padres had never done it, and the Rockies had never had it happen to them.
In the process, San Diego became the second team in MLB history to notch six shutouts in its first 16 games -- joining Cleveland in 1966. All six of those shutouts have come at Petco Park, where the Padres are 10-0 -- by far the best home start in franchise history.
¡°It¡¯s a fun place to play; we feel like we¡¯re playing with our fans,¡± said manager Mike Shildt. ¡°And conversely, it¡¯s a really challenging place [for opponents] to play. It¡¯s a playoff-like atmosphere almost every game.¡±
Amid yet another sellout crowd on Sunday, San Diego took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring four times on three straight two-out hits -- from Oscar Gonzalez, Yuli Gurriel and Jose Iglesias.
That was plenty for King, who recorded the first individual shutout by a Padres starter this year. He has been sharp at times this season but hadn't quite put it all together like this. Largely because he hadn¡¯t been this efficient.
King said he felt his stuff was excellent in each of his past two starts, so he made very few changes entering this one. The result? He needed 110 pitches to complete the game, striking out eight while allowing just two hits and an eighth-inning walk.
¡°Really mad about that walk,¡± King said.
He was only partially kidding. King has long been striving for this level of efficiency, and on Sunday he found it. Until his 17-pitch ninth inning, King was flirting with the first ¡°Maddux¡± -- a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches -- by a Padres pitcher since Andrew Cashner in 2014.
¡°They¡¯re a very aggressive team,¡± King said. ¡°You¡¯ve got to feed off that.¡±
King did precisely that, inducing quick outs all afternoon, en route to one of the best performances by a Padres starter in recent memory.
That¡¯s not hyperbole. In the last 10 years, only two other San Diego pitchers had thrown nine-inning shutouts while allowing fewer than three hits -- Joe Musgrove and Dylan Cease in the franchise¡¯s only two no-hitters.
¡°You can¡¯t be much better than that,¡± Shildt said. ¡°That¡¯s top-of-the-line, grade-A, ace stuff. [He was] in command the whole way.¡±
After King issued his lone walk with two outs in the eighth, the San Diego bullpen briefly got busy. But King responded with a quick strikeout of Zac Veen and then returned to the dugout, fully intending on taking the ninth.
¡°I told Shildt, ¡®Don¡¯t think about it,'¡± King said with a smirk.
Shildt didn¡¯t exactly heed those words. He certainly thought through his options -- as is his job. And there were plenty of factors working in King¡¯s favor.
With off-days on consecutive Thursdays, King had an extra day of rest before this start, and has an extra day of rest scheduled before his next one. His innings were quick on Sunday, and he faced minimal traffic. No Rockies hitter reached scoring position.
¡°The rope was there,¡± Shildt said. ¡°He had earned it.¡±
Seventeen pitches later, King sealed the victory by getting Nick Martini to bounce into a game-ending double play. The Padres improved to 13-3 -- the best record in baseball, and tied for the best start in franchise history, with the 1998 club that won the NL pennant.
They¡¯ll be looking to equal another pennant-winner¡¯s franchise record on Monday night when the Cubs come to town. The Padres have recorded four consecutive shutouts only once -- in 1984, though they did so against two different clubs.
The pitching staff¡¯s 2.68 ERA is the second-best mark in baseball, trailing only the Mets. Its .181 batting average against is tops in the Majors.
¡°We have a really good game plan,¡± said catcher Elias D¨ªaz. ¡°And we execute it.¡±
And when they do, they¡¯re darn near impossible to score against.