SAN DIEGO -- One batter into the bottom of the first inning on Saturday night, the Padres had a lead. These days, that seems to be all their pitching staff needs.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a leadoff home run in the first, then ended the game with a leaping catch in the ninth. In between, the San Diego pitching staff was lights out once again.
For the fifth time in their first 15 games, the Padres pitched their way to a shutout victory -- this one a 2-0 win over the Rockies at Petco Park. Kyle Hart did the bulk of the work on the mound with six scoreless frames of one-hit ball, before the bullpen nailed it down.
Jason Heyward tacked on a solo blast in the fifth -- his first home run since joining the club. But the Padres never needed the insurance. They became the first team since the 2015 A¡¯s to record five shutouts within their first 15 games of the season.
¡°It¡¯s not a surprise,¡± said catcher Martín Maldonado. ¡°These pitchers have been like this for a long time. They believe in what they do. ¡ It¡¯s a product of everybody, from the guys that do the reports, from [pitching coach] Ruben [Niebla], the whole pitching staff, [bullpen coach Ben] Fritz, our communication since Spring Training. It¡¯s a combination of everything.¡±
The Padres¡¯ pitching has been nothing short of spectacular -- especially at Petco Park, where they¡¯ve recorded all five of those shutouts. In nine games in their home ballpark this season, the Padres have yet to lose. Their 12-3 overall record is the best in the Majors.
¡°It builds,¡± said Padres manager Mike Shildt. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of different reasons why you pitch well. Clearly, you have talented pitchers. But we have prepared pitchers. We have pitchers that for the most part are controlling the strike zone consistently and controlling counts.¡±
Hart did very little of that in his last outing. He lasted only two-thirds of an inning at Wrigley Field last Sunday, regularly failing to find the strike zone, as he walked four hitters in the first inning.
This was a wildly different version of Hart. He was efficient, and his command was pinpoint. Hart struck out four Rockies and didn¡¯t allow a walk. Kyle Farmer¡¯s fourth-inning double was his only blemish.
¡°That was probably the most embarrassed I¡¯ve been on a baseball field in a long time,¡± Hart said of his start in Chicago. ¡°I had a lot of friends and family drive 8-10 hours to come watch that game. I was kind of sick to my stomach all week. ¡ So it felt good to just get back out there and give the team a chance.¡±
Hart did more than that. He¡¯d thrown only 74 pitches and probably could¡¯ve pitched into the seventh inning. But the San Diego bullpen has been the best in baseball through the first few weeks. No Padres reliever has entered a game with a lead and relinquished that lead all season. As such, Hart was just fine handing the ball over after six scoreless.
¡°Just give them a chance to shut these games down,¡± Hart said. ¡°You¡¯d be an idiot not to realize how strong they are right now and not realize how many dogs we have down there.¡±
The Padres followed their usual formula on Saturday. Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez pitched scoreless ball in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, respectively. San Diego¡¯s 1.51 bullpen ERA remains the best mark in the Majors. Its 2.86 staff ERA trails only the Mets.
¡°Our pitching staff has been doing a great job, [from top] to bottom,¡± said Tatis. ¡°It¡¯s fun to play defense behind them. They keep you in the game. They keep pounding the strike zone. When they¡¯re doing that, we¡¯re all locked in.¡±
Tatis especially. Before his 13th career leadoff home run, he made a sliding catch to rob Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, the first batter of the game, of a base hit. Tatis would later finish what he started, with a spectacular game-ending catch.
Suarez endured a rare off night (by his lofty standards). He recently became the first pitcher in Padres history to begin a season with six straight hitless outings. But he surrendered two hits on Saturday -- and nearly a third.
With the tying runs on base in the ninth, Kris Bryant hit a line drive into the right-field corner. Tatis tracked it down and leaped at the wall -- putting the finishing touches on yet another shutout victory. It¡¯s becoming the norm.