SAN DIEGO -- The Padres placed another key player on the injured list on Friday -- then went out and did what they¡¯ve done all season, in spite of those injuries: They just kept winning.
Nick Pivetta dazzled across seven scoreless frames, striking out 10 as the Padres cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Rockies at Petco Park. Signed at the start of Spring Training, Pivetta is settling right into his new home. He became the first pitcher in franchise history to record seven scoreless innings in his first two home starts.
In the process, the Padres improved to 11-3 -- the best mark in the Majors and tied for the best 14-game start in franchise history (with the 1984 team that won the franchise¡¯s first National League pennant).
Hours before first pitch, San Diego placed Jake Cronenworth on the injured list with a fractured right rib. Cronenworth joins a growing list of Padres on the IL -- one that also includes Jackson Merrill and Yu Darvish.
"We're just going to have each other's back, no matter what," said right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. "We have multiple ways to win a ballgame. Right now, we¡¯re clicking in every single area.¡±
Notably, that list of injuries no longer includes Tatis. Like Cronenworth, Tatis exited Tuesday¡¯s game against the A¡¯s with an injury -- discomfort in his left shoulder. It¡¯s the same shoulder that Tatis had surgically repaired in 2022.
Throughout the week, however, Tatis insisted this recurrence was a minor one. He proved his point on Friday night. As a nighttime haze rolled in over Petco Park, Tatis bashed a 411-foot moonshot into the Padres¡¯ bullpen in the bottom of the sixth.
¡°It disappeared into the fog,¡± Tatis said.
Gavin Sheets tacked on a solo blast of his own an inning later. By that time, the game had long been settled. The Padres small-balled their way to a six-run fifth, and that was more than enough for a dominant Pivetta.
In his Padres debut, Pivetta held the Braves scoreless across seven innings on March 31. He dealt with command issues during a short start at Wrigley Field last weekend. But he was back to the best version of himself on Friday night.
Clearly, the best version of Pivetta is capable of blowing hitters away with his fastball. He used it for nine of his 10 strikeouts on Friday night -- often using breaking pitches early in counts to set up the heater as a punchout pitch.
¡°It¡¯s a phantom fastball; it just kind of disappears,¡± said Padres manager Mike Shildt. ¡°Some guys¡¯ fastballs stay on-plane and just keep going, the way the ball rotates. ¡ The ball just comes out of his hand and it just jumps.¡±
It¡¯s early, but the Pivetta signing already looks like a shrewd one, considering the apparent upside. The Padres desperately needed starting-pitching depth as their spring began. Then they landed the top free agent arm on the board at the time.
Across three starts, Pivetta has recorded a 1.59 ERA, with opponents hitting just .164 against him.
¡°All about the team,¡± Pivetta said. ¡°Guys are doing what they do. We¡¯re getting runs when we need them, big plays when we need them. It¡¯s just a good team effort.¡±
That¡¯s become a staple of the 2025 Padres -- no matter who¡¯s on the field. Cronenworth landed on the IL on Friday afternoon -- and it was his replacement, Jose Iglesias, who starred with two hits during the six-run fifth.
¡°It¡¯s a club that¡¯s got a lot of different pieces and can beat you a lot of different ways,¡± Shildt said.
The Padres proved that again on Friday, playing small ball in the decisive fifth inning, before the long balls came later in the night. Heck, even when they aren¡¯t firing on all cylinders, everything seems to be working.
Xander Bogaerts -- who has been red-hot lately, hitting .417 over the past week -- led off the fifth inning with a single. He broke for second a couple pitches later and swiped the bag with ease, when Hunter Goodman¡¯s throw sailed wide. Bogaerts later revealed the play to be a botched hit and run.
Sure enough, Iglesias laced an RBI double two pitches later. The Padres were on the board, and the floodgates were open. They notched six hits in the frame.
The rest was a formality. At Petco Park this season, the Padres have thrown four shutouts and haven¡¯t lost any of their eight games.
¡°Let¡¯s keep it that way,¡± Tatis said.