Jul 11, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Robert Suarez (75) looks skyward after the Padres defeated the Philadelphia Phillies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego, California – In a clash that had all the makings of a playoff preview, the Padres used timely hitting and dominant bullpen work to take down the National League East-leading Philadelphia Phillies 4–2 in front of a fired-up crowd of 43,856 at Petco Park on Friday night.
With rookie Ryan Bergert making his first start back since taking a 103-mph comebacker off his arm, San Diego leaned on its elite relief corps to get the job done—and the group dubbed “The Four Horsemen” by manager Mike Shildt delivered once again.
Bergert gave up a pair of solo home runs—Nick Castellanos in the second and Kyle Schwarber’s 425-foot blast in the third—but showed composure beyond his years, striking out seven over 4.2 innings. He exited with the bases loaded in the fifth, but Yuki Matsui induced a groundout from Bryce Harper to end the threat and preserve the Padres’ 3–2 lead.
From there, it was a bullpen masterclass. Jeremiah Estrada worked a clean sixth, Adrian Morejon extended his scoreless streak to 23.2 innings with a dominant seventh, and All-Star Jason Adam navigated a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. After walking Trea Turner and surrendering back-to-back singles to Harper and Alec Bohm, Adam calmly fielded a dribbler from Castellanos and flipped it to Elias Díaz to nab Turner at the plate. He then retired Max Kepler on a pop-up to short to escape unscathed.
And in the ninth, it was Robert Suarez time. The flamethrowing closer fired 13 pitches—12 of them fastballs—to slam the door for his league-leading 28th save. With Morejon, Adam, and Suarez all All-Stars this season, the Padres became the first team in MLB history to send three relievers to the Midsummer Classic, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
At the plate, San Diego broke through early against Phillies ace Ranger Suárez, who had allowed two or fewer runs in nine straight starts. That streak ended in the second inning when the Padres plated three runs on RBI hits from Jose Iglesias and Fernando Tatis Jr., plus a run-scoring groundout by Díaz. Errors by the Phillies defense helped the inning spiral.
Manny Machado gave the Friars some insurance in the eighth with a solo shot to right, his team-leading 17th home run of the season—and the 359th of his career, pushing him past Yankees legend Yogi Berra on the all-time list.
The win sets up a chance to take the series Saturday night with Yu Darvish on the mound, facing off once again against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.
