DENVER -- Following the Padres’ head-scratcher of a shutout loss to the Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night, manager Mike Shildt said he had confidence that his club would turn things around.
But he added that “actions are going to have to speak louder than words.”
The actions -- particularly by way of the bats -- spoke loudly on Saturday, when San Diego bounced back with a 10-8 victory over Colorado and gained on the first-place Dodgers in the National League West. Los Angeles lost to Baltimore earlier in the evening, and the Padres are one game back.
“That was more how we play baseball,” Shildt said. “We can talk about the past and successes, but the fact of the matter is, we’ve got to prove it.”
Although it was dicey toward the end, the Padres proved their mettle, at least for a night, with an offensive eruption to back six solid innings from Randy Vásquez, who took the ball after being called up from Triple-A El Paso. The right-hander yielded three runs (two earned) on eight hits, walking none and striking out three in his first start for the Padres since Aug. 2.
Reliever Jeremiah Estrada was tagged for four runs in the seventh and closer Robert Suarez surrendered a Mickey Moniak solo homer in the ninth before picking up his NL-leading 36th save of the season.
But overall, the rebound performance spoke to the experience of the personnel on the roster. Many of these guys have been to the postseason before, and know what it takes to get there.
Locked in a battle with Los Angeles for NL West supremacy, and having missed a golden opportunity to gain on the skidding Dodgers the prior night, the Padres backed up the confident assertions they made after their own loss on Friday.
One of those assertions came from Fernando Tatis Jr., who said that in a long season, teams go through bad stretches, and that he was confident he and his teammates would recover from their recent slide.
It was Tatis who led the way at the plate on Saturday with a long three-run homer in the second, a Statcast-projected 441-foot shot over the left-center-field wall for his 20th of the season and his third in the past 10 games following a 27-game homerless drought. Luis Arraez had a three-hit night and drove in two. Freddy Fermin also contributed a two-run double and an RBI single.
“Feeling better,” said Tatis, who also had a single and a 419-foot flyout to left-center that, according to Statcast, would have been a homer in any other Major League park. “My barrel has been more alive these last couple games. So, looking forward to staying consistent with that.”
Consistency. Something that has eluded San Diego in what has been a rollercoaster of a season, particularly over the past several weeks. Saturday’s win snapped a five-game losing streak and was the Padres’ third in 12 games since taking two of three from the Dodgers to pull even with them atop the division standings.
Before dropping the series finale against the Dodgers on Aug. 24, the Padres had won five straight. Prior to that, they had lost four straight. Prior to that, they had won five straight.
Amid the inconsistency, though, Shildt said he didn’t feel there was “cause for alarm” because he knows what kind of resumes are on San Diego’s roster.
“[This is] an experienced clubhouse,” Shildt said. “I also have a lot of experience. So we know the game can challenge you, but we also know what we’re capable of, and we know what it takes to be successful, and that’s really important.
“… This year, they’ve fought their tails off to be in a good spot. We made some really good additions to the club. It’s really the only stretch we played in the last couple years where it didn’t look right.”
One win over the 102-loss Rockies is hardly indicative of a bigger turnaround. But Saturday’s postgame clubhouse atmosphere exuded a celebratory calm, as if all this talk of ups and downs and standing in the standings was mere conjecture.
They know there’s work ahead, but they also feel good about their chances.
“Let’s keep it going,” Tatis said. “See what happens.”
After saying that, Tatis was asked if he had heard about the wild ending in Baltimore, where the Dodgers lost after being up, 3-0, with two outs and nobody on in the ninth.
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I saw that.”