SAN DIEGO -- No Fernando Tatis Jr., no Eric Hosmer, no Wil Myers -- apparently no problem for the red-hot San Diego Padres. No matter how deep they have to dig to fill out a lineup card these days, they keep winning.\n\nThe San Diego offense is without a handful of its most important contributors. But if you didn’t check the box scores from this weekend’s series against the National League Central-leading Cardinals at Petco Park, you’d hardly be able to tell.
The Padres plated 23 runs across three games and capped a sweep of St. Louis with a 5-3 victory on Sunday. All eight of their starting position players reached base at least once. In a decisive four-run fourth inning, it was
San Diego still is awaiting the returns of Tatis, Hosmer and Myers, along with Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo -- all of whom landed on the injured list earlier this week with COVID-19 issues. Somehow, since the first of those IL stints came down on Tuesday, the Padres are 5-1 -- now half a game behind the Giants for the best record in the NL.\n\n“It’s definitely been a team effort,” said center fielder
“First inning, so you can be a little bit more aggressive,” Grisham said. “I saw the ball off the bat, went in, and knew that I could make a play.”\n\nIt kept the Padres alive for their methodical fourth-inning rally -- one that featured three walks, an error, a sacrifice fly from Kivlehan and Castillo’s first career hit.\n\nNo, those aren’t exactly the household names that the Padres spent the past few seasons acquiring. But they’re getting the job done just the same.\n\n“Whether it’s your first game in the big leagues or you’ve been maybe a journeyman and bounced around -- you’re a Padre, and you’re part of the family,” Tingler said. “It’s a great environment in that clubhouse.”
The Padres’ four-run fourth inning made a surprise winner out of
It was merely the latest example of the Padres’ immense depth paying dividends. Marcano has been the de facto replacement for Hosmer in the lineup, with second baseman