SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have won six straight games and nine of their last 10. Their slow start already feels like ancient history.\n\nHere’s some reaction from Petco Park, after San Diego’s 4-1 series-opening victory over Seattle on Tuesday night.
**The Padres need this from Michael King** \nOn Tuesday, Nick Pivetta landed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. He joined Joe Musgrove, who has been on the IL all season for the same reason.\n\nThat’s two of the three frontline starters the Padres envisioned leading their rotation. It’s not clear when we’ll see either of them. Musgrove has yet to throw off a mound since a Spring Training setback in his return from Tommy John surgery. As of first pitch Tuesday, the Padres were still sorting through the results of Pivetta’s MRI.\n\n“Pivetta’s one of my best friends out there,” said King, who worked six innings of one-run ball on Tuesday night. “So it sucks not being able to watch him every fifth day. Other guys are definitely going to have to step up. But as far as me -- I’m just going to keep doing what I’m trying to do.”\n\nIf the Padres could count on this version of King every fifth day, it would go a long way toward easing some of the concerns about their rotation.
King hasn’t quite rekindled the 2024 version of himself. He’s missing too many spots. Still, King has been mostly solid this year, and he lowered his ERA to 2.78, even without his best stuff.\n\n“Long way to go,” King said. “I still don’t feel super confident in the pitch locations that I’ve got right now. Mechanically, I’m definitely making adjustments. … Today was better than my last one.”\n\nBehind King, the emergence of Randy Vásquez has been huge for the rotation. But the final three spots currently belong to Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez and Matt Waldron (who will be activated to take Pivetta’s place this weekend).\n\nThere are major question marks at the back end. The Padres need stability at the front. King seems to be providing it.\n\n**Bogaerts’ big at-bats** \nThrough the first week or so of the regular season, there was no Padre unluckier than
“He’s a professional,” said Jackson Merrill, who stole second during the at-bat to get himself into scoring position. “He knows what he’s doing up there. He’s got an advanced approach.”\n\nIn the eighth, Bogaerts tacked on some insurance with an RBI single. He finished 3-for-4.\n\n“He’s been taking great at-bats the entire season,” said manager Craig Stammen. “We’ve seen him barrel a lot of baseballs. Tonight, he didn’t really hit them as hard as he’s been hitting them. But we talked about the luck kind of turning our way. … Great night for him, just competing in the box against really tough pitching.”\n\n**At last, some positive regression for Morejon** \n