SAN FRANCISCO -- Six weeks ago, the Padres were reeling. They returned to San Diego having dropped both series on a road trip through Cincinnati and Philadelphia. On the ensuing off-day, the Dodgers beat the White Sox to move nine games clear in the National League West.
On July 4, when the Padres showed up to Petco Park, the division race was barely an afterthought.
“We weren’t really looking up at that point,” star third baseman Manny Machado said. “We were just trying to get back in the win column.”
In the six weeks since, the Padres have been in that win column plenty. After an 11-1 demolition of the Giants on Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park, San Diego is 23-12 in that span.
In the middle of that stretch, the Padres significantly upgraded their roster, making five deals on Trade Deadline Day involving a whopping 22 players.
Now -- with a showdown atop the NL West looming in Los Angeles this weekend -- that nine-game Dodgers lead has vanished entirely.
Upon completing a three-game sweep of the Giants, the Padres moved into sole possession of first place -- even if only for a few hours, before the Dodgers’ series finale on Wednesday night in Anaheim.
How, exactly, did the Padres close that nine-game gap?
“We know how special a group we had over here, especially after the Deadline,” said right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. “Our GM went all out. … We’re going out there confident every single day, playing good baseball, clean baseball. That’s what we’re capable of.”
The Padres haven’t been in first place this late into a season since 2010. They haven’t won the NL West since ’06. Coincidentally, that’s also the last time the Padres and Dodgers played any game with first place on the line at a later date. (Separated by half a game in mid-September that year, they split a four-game series. Dave Roberts, now the Dodgers’ manager, led off for San Diego in all four games.)
The Dodgers currently hold the edge for a potential tiebreaker, having won five of the seven meetings between the two clubs in June -- including three of four during a particularly feisty series in L.A. But these are clearly not the same Padres.
The addition of Mason Miller has turned the team’s biggest strength -- its bullpen -- into an unstoppable force. Meanwhile, the additions of Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano and Freddy Fermin have turned the team’s biggest weakness -- lineup depth -- into a certifiable strength.
“Every player that has come in has contributed and been really, really big factors,” said Tatis. “They’re a really big part of this team. Hopefully, we can keep bringing it together.”
In Wednesday’s victory, O’Hearn and Laureano combined to reach base six times in 10 trips to the plate. Fermin didn’t start Wednesday -- it was a day game after a night game, and Elias Díaz has emerged as Nick Pivetta’s de facto personal catcher. But Fermin has otherwise emerged as the regular behind the plate and is batting .355 since his arrival.
Those additions have changed the complexion of the Padres’ lineup. At the Deadline, the Padres had the lowest OPS in the Majors from the bottom third of their lineup. Now?
“The lineup is probably the best lineup I’ve ever been a part of,” O’Hearn said. “And I was on some really good offensive teams in Baltimore. We have great hitters up and down the lineup. Freddy Fermin in the nine hole has been extremely productive. [Jake] Cronenworth, great hitter, hitting in the eight hole. You look up and down the lineup, there’s not a weak link.”
That was the plan, of course. In the immediate aftermath of the Trade Deadline, general manager A.J. Preller boldly declared, “If you want to win a championship, you can’t have any weak links.”
Preller held onto pitcher Dylan Cease, despite plenty of trade interest, stabilizing a starting rotation that has also seen the recent returns of Michael King and Yu Darvish. The GM added Miller to what was already a lockdown ’pen. But there was no guarantee it would click as quickly as it has.
“They’ve won us some games,” Machado -- who was traded midseason himself, from the Orioles to the Dodgers in 2018 -- said of the new additions. “Our lineup is a lot different now, and obviously the bullpen has been coming up and doing their job.
“I’ve been in their shoes before. It’s tough to make that adjustment -- the change of scenery, learning new names, new faces, new league, different division. It’s all tough. It takes you a little bit of time to get acclimated to your new surroundings. To see them adjusting how they are, [they’re] fitting perfectly in.”
O’Hearn gave the credit to “the big dogs.” Superstars like Machado, Tatis and Darvish, he said, “have been extremely welcoming.” And with the host of newcomers on board -- including pitcher Nestor Cortes, who was sharp in his start against the Giants on Tuesday night -- the Padres have thrived.
With their sweep in San Francisco this week, they’ve now won 14 of their last 17 games. In the meantime, the Dodgers have floundered. Since they held that nine-game lead in early July, they’ve gone 12-20.
Which sets up a fascinating next two weekends. After three games in L.A. beginning Friday, the Padres host the Dodgers the following weekend at Petco Park. The 10-day stretch might decide the division.
“It’s huge,” Tatis said. “That’s what we’re playing for. … It’s in our hands.”
And who could have imagined that six weeks ago?