After completing a sweep over the San Francisco Giants last night, the San Diego Padres have now won six games in a row, all against divisional opponents. So far defying many pre-season projections that had them in the cellar of the NL West, they are instead sitting on top, with a solid 9-6 record.
Your NL West Leading... Padres?
↵It’s been the San Diego pitching that has been getting it done: their collective 2.96 ERA trails only St. Louis. Skeptics may suggest that the cavernous Petco Park may be responsible, but a road ERA of 4.09 is still fifth in the league, and that’s after two series at extremely hitter-friendly parks in Denver and Phoenix.
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This is particularly surprising as de facto staff ace Chris Young was forced onto the disabled list with a right shoulder injury. However, 22-year old Mat Latos has stepped into the breach, and beat Jonathan Sanchez 1-0 in a pitcher's duel last week. His 3.57 ERA is the worst by a Padres rotation, led by Jon Garland and his 2.86 ERA.
↵The other thing San Diego has done is be very aggressive on the base-paths; their 17 steals leads the league, and with an 85% success-rate, they’re not just running blindly. Will it last? Hard to say: we’re not even 10% of the way through the season. But thus far, the Padres are probably the most surprising team in the National League, if not all of baseball.
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