Manny Machado drove in three runs against Justin Verlander as the Padres beat the Giants 8-4 on Thursday to take three out of four from San Francisco.
The Padres, despite a sloppy game, have won three in a row going into a second straight weekend showdown against the defending World Series champion Dodgers.
Los Angeles swept the Padres, then in first place, last weekend at Dodger Stadium but this time the action turns to Petco Park.
The Dodgers, who snatched back the division lead with the sweep, come to San Diego with a one-game lead in the National League West after a 9-5 win in Colorado Thursday.
Run it up. pic.twitter.com/n2spnntaxN
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 21, 2025
Ramón Laureano, is keeping his cool about the Padres’ chances of extending their win streak, even against the division leaders.
“Just keep it going. Keep it going. We know what we’re doing. There’s nothing to really worry about. It’s just another different uniform. That’s all,” he said during the Padres’ post-game show.
San Francisco’s Rafael Devers hit a 435-foot home run off Dylan Cease leading off the sixth and Willy Adames followed with a 400-footer, also to right-center.
The Giants had taken a 2-0 lead after the Padres misplayed three straight balls to open the third, the first two by right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. – who had made a spectacular grab in Wednesday’s win.
Tatis called for Luis Matos’ fly ball as he and center fielder Laureano converged, but he pulled up and it fell in for a triple. Tatis then misjudged Andrew Knizner’s fly ball and it fell in for an RBI double.
Jung Hoo Lee reached on second baseman Jake Cronenworth’s fielding error and Knizner scored on a double play.
San Diego tied it in the fourth on Machado’s RBI single and Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly. And then came the fifth.
The Padres scored six, with the first two coming when the Giants committed two errors on Freddy Fermin’s bunt single. Machado’s two-run double chased Verlander – it was his 104th career game of three or more RBIs – and Bogaerts and Laureano each had an RBI base hit.
Cease (6-11) allowed four runs and six hits in five innings while earning the win. He also struck out seven and walked two. Verlander (1-10) allowed seven runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Padres Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.97) starts Friday night against the Dodgers’ Blake Snell (3-1,1.80 ERA). Snell brings a streak of 11 consecutive scoreless innings into the game, six of them from his 6-0 win last weekend in LA.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
