Could the Padres' Biggest Obstacle to the NL West Title Be ... The Rockies?

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 3, 2024

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The National League West race is on and the San Diego Padres are heating up at the right time.

For the first time since 2010, the Padres clinched a season series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which would give San Diego the tiebreaker if the end of the regular season required it.

This season has produced the type of race that was expected last year. The Padres only trail the Dodgers by 4.5 games after sweeping their division rival in a two-game set at Petco Park on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mike Shildt discussed tonight's effort from Randy Vasquez, if he thought things were where he wanted the Rockies with the lead heading to his bullpen and how he makes sure things don't snowball against the Rockies: pic.twitter.com/hLDVpLKQ0B

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) August 3, 2024

Friday's loss to the Colorado Rockies threw an unexpected monkey wrench into the NL West race: the Arizona Diamondbacks leapfrogged San Diego into second place in the division. They're four games behind the Dodgers and half a game ahead of the Padres.

The Diamondbacks are hot too, having gone 8-2 in their last 10 games and winning four in a row. If the Padres' current series against the Rockies snowballs like the last, the division race will take on a whole new tenor.

"We don't talk about it" snowballing, Shildt said. "It's really about going out (Saturday) and we've got (Martin) Perez making his debut for us. He goes out, gives us a quality start, we need to play with the lead. Get the lead, hold the lead, bring it home.

"Let's play the game clean."

Against the Rockies, that's been easier said than done. The Padres have lost five consecutive games against Colorado, the fifth-place team in the division, entering Saturday's rematch. In their previous meeting a three-game series in May, the Padres scored just 7 runs to the Rockies' 19.

"We’re just trying to worry about our game and not really worry about who we’re playing against," Padres third baseman Manny Machado said on Wednesday.

After the sweep against the Dodgers, Machado was asked about winning the West — and expressed a similar sentiment about not focusing on anything beyond the moment.

“We just don’t talk about it," he said. "Just go about it and play the game. We’ve got to go through them. That’s not a secret. Everyone knows it. But at the end of the day, it’s just worry about today. And then whatever happens happens, it’s not really thinking too far in the future.”

First baseman Jake Cronenworth didn't hesitate when he was asked about the division title being up for grabs.

“Everybody in here believes it,” he said. “The goal is to get to the postseason. It’s always great to win the division. But our focus is moving onto Colorado and focusing on that.”

The Padres are 250-272 overall in their history against the Rockies — 138-123 at home.