Tight defense, opportunistic offense and Wascar Serrano's slippery pitching yielded a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks, who performed shabbily. The Padres are alone in first place for the first time since the final day of the 1998 season.
Padres talk They've won six games in a row, a season high.
Shoot, they even won without scoring at least five runs, for the first time in 18 such games this year. That's what it takes to continue this. In March he failed to distinguish himself in the Cactus League for the second straight year, but he's pitched credibly in all three starts, and he's made effective pitches with men on base. Before 19,450 at Qualcomm Stadium yesterday, the Dominican stranded two runners in the second inning, and two more in the fourth. I haven't seen in the spring.