The Padres won a laugher Wednesday to take two out of three from the Cubs during a blink-and-you-missed it home stand.
They prevailed 10-2 after breaking the game open in the sixth and seventh innings – and Jake Cronenworth, one of the hottest Padres to start the season, played a role in both frames.
They opened the scoring in the second as Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim singled with one out. Luis Campusano drove in Profar with a single and Jackson Merrill brought Kim home on a force play.
Up 4-2 lead in the sixth, Cronenworth lead off the inning with a homer to right off Cub reliever Daniel Palencia. After a single by Manny Machado, Profar did Cronenworth one better with a two-run shot to put the Pads up 7-3.
They added two more runs in the seventh, with the second coming on a Cronenworth single that brought in Xander Bogaerts.
Newcomer Dylan Cease won his first game with the Friars after giving up two runs in six innings and striking out seven.
“I think it’s all clicking,” he told MLB.com, adding that he feels “like I’m getting stronger every time out.”
The Padres won a thriller Monday, coming back from an 8-0 deficit for a 9-8 victory over the Cubs, followed by a 5-1 loss Tuesday.
The team, after an off day Thursday, begins a three-game set against the Dodgers with Michael King, Matt Waldron and Yu Darvish set to take the mound. The Friars then leave L.A. to head to Milwaukee.
