The magical start continues, San Diego! Padres started 7-0 for the first time in their 57-season history by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 at Petco.

The Padres’ 1-4 hitters- Fernando Tatis Jr, Luis Arraez, Manny Machado and brand-new hundred million dollar man Jackson Merrill- put on a show today, putting  4 runs on the board with 2 outs and nobody on in the 3rd inning.

Jackson Merrill’s 2-run homer put an exclamation point on the aforementioned 4-run outburst, but it was only possible due to the baseball brilliance  of Fernando Tatis Jr and Luis Arraez. Tatis scored  the 1st run of the game on a beautifully executed double steal with Arraez to start the onslaught.

Arraez took off for 2nd, drawing the throw from Cleveland catcher Bo Naylor. Arraez pulls and Daniel Schneeman throws it home, but way too late to get Tatis, who timed it perfectly. Arraez went to 3rd on Manny Machado’s infield single and then scored on 3rd baseman José Ramírez's throwing error.

Merrill then homered in his 2nd straight game. He was an All-Star in 2024 and finished 2nd to Paul Skenes in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. The homer by Merrill came 2 days after his bobblehead night on Monday. He turns 22 on April 19. The young star is an already a huge fan favorite, and by the looks of things, his star will only keep rising.

Arraez homered leading off the 7th, his 1st of the season.

That’s all Dylan Cease needed in his 2nd start, as the power-pitching righty (1-0) held the Guardians to one run on 4 hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out 7 and walking only 1 hitter.

Closet Robert Suarez worked a perfect 9th for his 3rd save, striking out 1 hitter.

Tatis has 5 stolen bases in 7 games. He had 11 last year, when he missed 2 months with a stress reaction in his right thigh bone.

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‘LIVE’ Instant Reaction from Jim GRIES Grieshaber

The Padres' 7 wins have come against 2 playoff teams from last year, as both the Braves (NL Wild Card, lost in 2 games to Padres) and Guardians (AL Central Champs, lost to Yankees in ALCS) made the postseason a year ago.

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The unbeaten Padres head to Chicago to face the Cubs (5-4) in a 3-game series that’s starts on Friday.

The Padres haven't announced a starter yet.

Your PADRES POSTCAST will be ‘LIVE’ right after the game, hosted by Jim “GRIES” Grieshaber.

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