Padres pick up a win against a decent opponent

It wasn't easy, but the Padres did all the could to leave Oracle Park with a 6-5 win over the Giants.

Okay, maybe it’s not all bad!

Mike Clevinger is still good, the backup backup closer seems to be awesome (Nick Martinez is going to make so much money this offseason), and the offense is still good against a good pitcher in a pitcher’s ballpark.

Those are my main takeaways from last night’s 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants. The San Diego Padres didn’t take any big steps back and they didn’t blow the game. That’s progress!

The offense stayed hot, aggressively jumping on fastballs instead of letting them fly by, and scored 3 runs against Carlos Rodón in the 1st inning after the pregame show warned fans that “This may not feel like the same offense the team had in Kansas City when you’re going up against a pitcher of this magnitude.”

It still feels a little clunky (the two delays probably didn’t help), and Robert Suarez giving up 3 runs and being unable to get out of the 8th inning is a testament to that, but it’s moving in the right direction now.

The Padres have now won 3 of their last 4 and the Tatis suspension is starting to feel like a distant memory. We all reached a point with this team where talk stopped mattering and they needed to start winning if they were going to be the playoff team they, and we, think they’re capable of being. Now they’re doing that.

They have two huge series coming up against the Dodgers but, for now….let’s hope they keep beating up on the Giants. One game at a time, fellas!