The San Diego Padres received a dominant performance from Dylan Cease on Saturday night, as he recorded his fifth consecutive season with over 200 strikeouts while leading the team to an 11-3 blowout victory over the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Cease (8-11) allowed just one run on five hits, walked one, and struck out six across six innings to secure the win. He threw 109 pitches, 70 of them strikes, demonstrating endurance and control.
Saturday featured another milestone for Cease as he surpassed 1,000 career innings pitched and reached the 200-strikeout mark for the fifth straight season, becoming the only MLB pitcher to do so over the last five years. For the 2025 season, Cease has pitched 157 innings over 30 starts with a 4.59 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 201:66 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
San Diego's offense backed Cease with a dominant display, featuring four home runs and contributions from almost every starter. Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, and Elias Diaz combined for multiple hits, while Tatis Jr., Machado, Jackson Merrill, and Bryce Johnson all went deep. Tatis Jr.’s two-run homer in the second inning, his fifth of the season against the Rockies, put San Diego ahead 3-1, setting the tone for the night.
Machado followed with a solo homer in the third, his 25th of the season, extending his streak to five straight 25-homer campaigns. Merrill added another homer in the third, and Bryce Johnson hit a pinch-hit, two-run shot in the eighth. Ramon Laureano contributed a key two-run double in the fourth, and Machado also added a two-run single in the same frame.
The Padres' 11 runs were more than the team had scored in its previous four games combined, snapping a homestand slump in which the Padres managed just 11 runs over five games and batted .168/.225/.284, hitting .088 with runners in scoring position.
The win completed a series sweep for San Diego over the Rockies, who now sit at a major-league-worst 41-108 and have lost 18 of their last 22 games. Rockies rookie Bradley Blalock lasted only three innings, allowing three home runs, while former starter Antonio Senzatela, working out of the bullpen, surrendered four runs in the fourth inning alone.
The Padres, trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 2½ games in the NL West, hold the second of three National League wild cards and now look to carry the momentum into Sunday’s series finale.
