Padres Performance
In perhaps the most anticipated regular-season series in the 50-plus year history of the San Diego Padres, the team completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night, for the first sweep of their rivals since 2013, and the first sweep at home since 2010.
OUR HOUSE. #PadresWWWWWWWin #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/6PgpBPp96W
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 24, 2021
The sweep placed them 4.5 games behind the division-leading Giants (of whom many baseball experts are expecting a second-half slow down) and only one-half game behind the Dodgers.
The Padres will get a chance to show that the series sweep was not a fluke as they face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who just finished a 20-game losing streak earlier this week, then they go on the road for six games against sub-.500 teams Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres should win at least six of those nine games before ending the first half of the season with seven home games against two more mediocre teams, the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies.
Win five of those seven games to finish 11-5 before the all-star break and the Padres should find themselves even closer to first place before many of the squad travel to Denver for the July 13 MLB All-Star Game.
It wouldn't feel the same without you. pic.twitter.com/GOMoHQX3Xk
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 24, 2021
Second-half Summary
The Padres had one of the most exciting first halves of the seasons in MLB, between the no-hitter, unexpected injuries, an impressive winning streak, and competition from the surprise team of 2021, the San Francisco Giants.
During the second half of the season expect a healthy Padres team to recover from injuries, and put together two or three more impressive winning streaks to position themselves for a playoff run in October…