Padres' Mike Shildt Breathes Sigh Of Relief After Breaking Losing Streak

The San Diego Padres snapped a five-game losing streak with back-to-back dominant wins over the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Friday night it was all about the slug and on Saturday, it was a little bit of everything.

Friday's 10-3 win featured three home runs. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar went back-to-back in the first inning and a two-run homer from Ha-Seong Kim in the sixth inning sealed the win.

Manager Mike Shildt admitted after the game that the it was nice seeing the team's power come through.

“No kidding, man,” Shildt said. “It’s nice. ... It was nice to get some balls that were able to get in the gaps and get out of the ballpark and create some instant runs.”

San Diego continued to slug on Saturday in a 13-1 win hitting three home runs and scoring four runs in three different innings.

Jake Cronenworth makes it 7-0 @Padres with a 3-run bomb. pic.twitter.com/B7oDTT2aKY
— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2024

“The approach that we were doing wasn’t gonna be fine,” Jake Cronenworth said Saturday night following another win over Arizona. “We went into (Friday’s) game and it was an emphasis on like, ‘Today is the most important game.’ And I think over the last two days, one through nine, starting pitcher, bullpen, everybody has treated it like that.”

Saturday's win brought the Padres back to .500 and their six home runs in the past two games are as many as they had in their previous nine games. Most importantly, they were able to combine hitting for average and hitting for power in the win which is something they've been missing during the recent losing streak.

They have led the major leagues in batting average for much of the season and have for most of the year led the league in big innings. However, their production has largely been by base hits strung together rather than balls hit over walls.

“We are very united as a team that has a goal (of) reaching the World Series,” Ha-Seong Kim said through interpreter David Lee. “And if you combine hitting for average, getting on base, and adding that with slug and power, I think that will lead to us reaching the top.”