SAN DIEGO — The Padres will enter their final home series of the regular season with one goal: Earn another series at home next week.
But Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Brewers put a serious dent in those chances.
But with their loss in the finale, the Padres made things difficult on themselves in the race for home-field advantage in next week’s Wild Card Series. After Wednesday’s games, they trailed both the Dodgers and Cubs by 2 1/2 games. The Padres (87-72) have three games left in their regular season — against the Diamondbacks this weekend at Petco Park. (Both L.A. and Chicago have four left.)
Catching the Dodgers for the NL West title now seems like a particularly tall task, given that Los Angeles owns that tiebreaker and saw its magic number trimmed to 1 with Wednesday’s win over the D-backs. If the Padres can’t reel in L.A., they’re bound for a Wild Card Series against the Cubs next week. The likeliest location for that series is still Wrigley Field, but the Padres would at least own that tiebreaker if they can make up 2 1/2 games on Chicago in the coming days.
Right-hander Dylan Cease pitched five innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts on Wednesday in his final tuneup before the postseason. But it remains unclear how Cease might fit into the Padres’ Wild Card Series plans.
With his performance on Wednesday, Cease’s ERA sits at 4.55. That’s not a number befitting Dylan Cease, and the truth is, he probably got a bit unlucky along the way. He’ll also be the first to admit that he hasn’t been nearly consistent enough.
“I had a pretty down year,” Cease said. “But I feel like I’m finishing pretty strong. I like where I’m at. We’re in it. That’s all that really matters.”
Manager Mike Shildt has more or less already tabbed Nick Pivetta as his Game 1 starter. Michael King could start Game 2. There’s an opening for Game 3, and Cease is an obvious candidate to fill it (alongside Yu Darvish and Randy Vásquez). But the Padres can’t afford some of the blow-ups that Cease has been prone to this season.
But as Cease alluded to, he’s been better lately. In five September starts, he posted a 2.77 ERA. His eight strikeouts brought him to 215 on the season. And if Cease doesn’t crack the Wild Card Series rotation — who knows? — maybe his next start comes against these Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to try to win a World Series,” Cease said. “If we do that, I’m going to feel very good about my year.”
