Padres remain hot with doubleheader sweep of Giants

The Padres are officially the hottest team in baseball, with Sunday’s doubleheader sweep of the Giants giving San Diego seven straight wins.

Winners of 20 of their last 25 games, the Padres only trail by two games in the National League West, with the result of the Dodgers’ Sunday night game still pending.

Mike Clevinger had his best start as a Padre in the opener, cruising in a 6-0 shutout. The right-hander allowed only two hits and a walk in his seven innings, which counts as his second career complete game and second shutout.

Clevinger induced a season-high 14 swinging strikes and struck out seven on the day.

The offense provided continual support with three separate scoring rallies against Johnny Cueto. Greg Garcia lofted a two-run single to left field in the second inning, and Wil Myers added a two-run single in the third. Two walks and a throwing error knocked out Cueto in the sixth, which put this game out of reach.

Runs were more scarce in the nightcap, with a fifth-inning rally providing the difference in a 3-1 Padres win.

Walks by Jake Cronenworth and Jason Castro in the fifth set the stage, and chased San Francisco starter Logan Webb. Jurickson Profar singled home the go-ahead run, then Manny Machado singled home another run for insurance.

Myers, who drove in two in Game 1, homered in Game 2, giving him nine RBI in his last five games, going 7-for-18 (.389) during that span.

Garrett Richards pitched into the fifth in the second game of the doubleheader, allowing only a run. Padres pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings, allowing only five hits in Sunday’s sweep.

Oddball highlight

Fernando Tatis Jr. lost control of his bat on a swing and miss in the first inning of Game 1, and the bat somehow cleared the netting and made it into the seats down the third base line. Look at the distance on this thing:

Notes

• The Padres called up pitcher Joey Lucchesi as the 29th player for Sunday’s doubleheader, though he didn’t pitch in either game.
• Before Sunday’s games, Javy Guerra was placed on the 10-day injured list, and Taylor Williams was recalled.

Sunday particulars

Home run: Wil Myers (12)

Game 1 WP — Mike Clevinger (3-2): 7 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts

Game 2 WP — Tim Hill (3-0): ⅔ IP, zeroes

Game 2 save — Trevor Rosenthal (10): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts

Up next

Monday at Petco Park starts a three-game showdown series with the Dodgers, with the two best teams in the National League fighting for both the division title and the likely No. 1 seed in the NL playoffs. Dinelson Lamet starts the opener for the Padres, facing Clayton Kershaw for Los Angeles.