SAN DIEGO — Soon after a three-hour, 46-minute contest concluded a stretch of 26 games in 27 days, Jake Cronenworth sank into his chair inside the San Diego Padres’ clubhouse. The 32-year-old second baseman declined to stand. He was too tired, he said, to speak with reporters.
A moment later, he rose to his feet.
He was kidding. Sort of.
“It’s going to be a nice off-day tomorrow,” Cronenworth said.
The infielder and his teammates had earned it Wednesday with a 4-3, 11-inning victory that secured more than a sweep of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.
For the first time since June 27, the Padres (65-57) are back in playoff position. They have won 15 of their past 19 games — and 17 of 26 since the All-Star break — to vault past six teams and land in the National League’s second wild-card spot. Their odds of playing into October have soared from roughly 7 percent to better than 60 percent.
What’s fueled this season-altering stretch?
“I think a lot of it had to do with the position we were in kind of when we started this, maybe even a little bit after we’d started it,” Cronenworth said. “Obviously, it was kind of a race to the trade deadline for us, so it put all the pressure on us to go out there and perform and let (president of baseball operations A.J. Preller) do what he does. And after that, it’s like, ‘Man, this is the group we got. Let’s go out and take it.’”
On another sunny afternoon at Petco Park, the Padres continued to seize their opportunities. Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. scored a tying, eighth-inning run from second base as Cronenworth hustled for an infield single. Five relievers combined to throw seven innings without yielding an earned run. Catcher Luis Campusano threw out a base runner in the top of the 10th, center fielder Jackson Merrill erased a deficit with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th, and five pitches later, Campusano delivered a walk-off single.
It was the latest big moment for a backstop who failed to collect a major-league hit in 2025.
“Last year was last year,” Campusano said, “but this year, I’m here and ready, better than ever.”
It was also the latest connection by an offense that has swung from league-worst to first place in most second-half categories. Combine that with a vaunted bullpen and a reinforced rotation, and the Padres have emerged from a grueling span as one of the NL’s more dangerous — and more motivated — clubs.
“Where we are in the standings, we really don’t have the luxury to take it easy,” manager Craig Stammen said. “We’ve got to get after it, and the way the players are responding to that … is a big reason why they’ve been able to energize themselves through this streak of a lot of games.”
Added Tatis, “We have come together as a ballclub, as a team, and that’s what’s needed. And when you’re going to sweep a team like this, it keeps boosting our confidence all the way up, so we better keep it that way.”
The Padres received some assistance Wednesday. They began the day with the same record as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both of those teams, however, held tiebreakers over San Diego.
Then, the Phillies and the Diamondbacks each lost. With that, and with their walk-off in San Diego, the Padres leapt from the cusp of the wild-card picture to the thick of it.
“We always knew that we were going to be able to catch up to teams, but we had to go out there and prove it and do it ourselves to make that happen,” said set-up man Adrian Morejon, one of two Padres relievers to work two innings in the series finale.
If the regular season ended today, the Padres would be on their way to Wrigley Field, the site of last year’s early playoff exit.
Of course, the regular season does not end today. In a crowded wild-card race, nothing is guaranteed. Urgency remains necessary.
The Padres can at least take a breath Thursday.
“Now it’s that 40-game sprint,” Cronenworth said. “I think we have some more off-days coming up seemingly almost every week, which is going to be nice.”
