SAN DIEGO — While they wait, the Padres passed the time with some wins over the weekend.
A 3-2 victory over the Twins on Sunday was earned with some rare timely hitting that made a winner of resilient starting pitcher Sean Manaea. And three relievers, including Luis Garcia in the ninth to earn his first save of the season, closed out the game with three perfect innings.
A series win over the American League Central leaders was much-needed for a team that came home after dropping two of three to the Tigers, the last-place team in the AL Central.
Still, the game felt like a time filler.
The clock ticks — ever-so-slowly, it seems — toward Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Padres players are posing the same questions everyone else is.
“You think it will happen?” a few asked of a reporter Sunday morning.
Padres President of Business Operations A.J. Preller and his staff are working the phones trying to make the team better, primarily by acquiring Juan Soto from the Nationals but also in what was estimated by one team executive as a dozen other “balls in the air.”
And on the periphery of all that, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to take batting practice as he works toward an anticipated return around the middle of the month.
But a squad that a few days ago assured it would finish July with a losing record can’t really afford to twiddle its thumbs while it waits for help.
And just when it seemed the Padres might waste another fine pitching performance, they got some hits. And they got some hits with runners in scoring position.
Manaea departed the game after six innings, having allowed a pair of solo home runs.
The Padres were down 2-1.
Jurickson Profar’s homer in the third inning, his second in three at-bats, had put them up 1-0 before Luis Arraez homered in the fifth and Jose Miranda in the sixth for the Twins.
As Trent Grisham came to bat leading off the bottom of the sixth, the Padres were hitless in seven at-bats since Profar’s homer.
Singles by Grisham and Profar put runners at the corners before Dylan Bundy was replaced by Emilio Pagan.
Manny Machado flied out to center field too shallow for Grisham to responsibly try to tag.
Jake Cronenworth followed with a single that scored Grisham and sent Profar to third. A flared single by Luke Voit gave the Padres a 3-2 lead and again positioned runners at first and third before Eric Hosmer struck out and Jorge Alfaro flied out.
Nabil Crismatt retired the Twins in order in the seventh, and Tim Hill did the same in the eighth.
