Padres Made Petco Park History Over the Weekend

For just the second time in the history of Petco Park, the San Diego Padres have scored 10 or more runs in two straight games.

Before taking the first two games of their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks by scores of 10-3 and 13-1, the Padres were on a five-game losing streak. They only hit two home runs during that stretch, and wasted five quality starts.

They entered Friday’s game leading the major leagues in batting average, but weren't scoring runs. For a team whose offense ranked eighth in Major League Baseball (4.64 runs per game) over the season’s first 48 games, the struggle was new. Somehow the runs were coming in bunches. Over the past 18 games, the Padres only averaged 3.39 runs per game — 27th in MLB.

The difference was the lack of home runs. They were averaging 1.06 home runs per game through the first 48 games and 0.50 home runs per game over the past 18.

San Diego found its swing during both games, launching three homers each night. Over the previous 18 games, they averaged an MLB-worst home run every 67 at-bats and Friday night, they got two in a row. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar went back-to-back in the first inning and it felt like a weight was lifted over the team's collective shoulders. Ha-Seong Kim followed them up with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Kim homered again on Saturday while Jake Cronenworth and Kyle Higashioka joined in with one each. The Padres’ six home runs in the past two games are as many as they had in their previous nine games.

As they Padres brought their record back to .500, they also have one more game against the defending National League champs on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT.