Aug 19, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Robert Suarez (75) and Elias Diaz (17) celebrate after the Padres beat the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego, California – The Padres needed a win like this one. After a four-game skid that included a sweep in Los Angeles, San Diego turned back to its most reliable starter, and Nick Pivetta delivered exactly what the club has come to expect.
Pivetta shook off an early mistake — a leadoff home run by San Francisco’s Jung Hoo Lee — to strike out 10 batters in six innings, tying his season high and powering the Padres to a 5-1 win Tuesday night at Petco Park. It was Pivetta’s second straight dominant outing against the Giants, and this one couldn’t have come at a better time.
“That’s our game,” Manny Machado said after the win. “That’s our best baseball.”
San Diego tied the game in the bottom of the first when Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on an error, advanced on Luis Arraez’s double, and scored on a Machado groundout. In the fourth inning, the Padres took control. Giants starter Kai-Wei Teng lost his command, hitting two batters and setting up Jose Iglesias’ RBI single. Tatis followed with a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-1.
From there, San Diego’s offense kept tacking on runs. Machado and Ryan O’Hearn each had two hits, while Tatis reached base three times, bringing his usual mix of power and chaos to the top of the order. Even with Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth, and Freddy Fermin sidelined, the Padres’ lineup kept the pressure on.
But the story of the night was Pivetta. After Lee’s homer on the second pitch of the game, the right-hander barely flinched. He scattered only two more hits the rest of the way and racked up strikeouts with a mix of precision fastballs and sharp sweepers. By the time he froze Christian Koss with strike three for his 10th punchout — his 109th pitch of the night — Pivetta stalked off the mound screaming, and Petco Park roared back.
“He just pitched like Nick pitches,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We get dinged right off the bat … nobody hung their head, especially Nick. You look up, and that’s the only run he gave up.”
The Padres bullpen made sure it stayed that way. Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, and Robert Suarez each worked a scoreless inning, closing out a combined four-hitter. The trio has become the backbone of a relief corps that now looks like one of the deepest in baseball.
With the win, San Diego snapped its losing streak and stayed two games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. And if October is in the cards, Tuesday night might be the kind of performance Padres fans should get used to: Pivetta at the front, the bullpen slamming the door, and the offense doing just enough to make it all hold up.
