Padres stay hot, win sixth straight in opener against Mariners

SAN DIEGO — Two teams entered Petco Park riding win-streaks Tuesday. The Padres emerged on the other side with one still intact.

San Diego, now rolling with the Majors’ second best record (11-6), snapped what was a four-game hot streak for the Seattle Mariners with a 4-1 triumph after a one-run, six inning effort behind Michael King and a gritty offensive performance against All-Star righty Bryan Woo.

Facing what should be considered a gauntlet-style lineup for the M’s, it was King who out-dueled Woo, despite throwing one less inning than his counterpart.

“Felt like we had a great game plan from the start and executed it. Campy and I were working great. Communicating. Felt like we were on the same page the whole time. It was good," King said after earning his second individual win this season.

King worked out of a one out, bases loaded jam in the second setting the tone for the rest of the night. The only run to cross the plate for Seattle came on a Dominic Canzone sacrifice fly that same inning, limiting what could have resulted to be a big inning for the Mariners.

“A lot of the hits were soft contact. The run in the second was a infield single and a bunt, and then a hit by pitch. It’s not like I was getting beat on certain pitches — as we stuck to the game plan, it proved to be accurate," King added.

He also held Seattle’s big three of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Josh Naylor to just one hit with three strikeouts.

The start offered much optimism for the Padres, especially after placing co-ace Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list pre-game Tuesday. Pivetta was pulled from his start in the fourth inning Sunday against the Colorado Rockies with what the team announced was right elbow stiffness.

Offensively, Ramón Laureano and Xander Bogaerts stayed hot at the plate, going 5-for-8 against Seattle pitching. Laureano’s one-out triple in the third gave way to Bogaerts’ two-out, two-run single later in the inning to give San Diego a 3-1 advantage over Woo and the M’s.

Slight work for Xander. pic.twitter.com/r7L1Ff4Hk1

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 15, 2026

Jackson Merrill’s three hits and stolen base also proved crucial in the contest. The Padres center fielder found himself zooming around the base paths, coming around to score twice from second base.

“We talk about that a lot. Taking the extra ninety and using our running game as part of our offense — today was a good example of him [Merrill] taking advantage of that and giving us a couple of runs," said manager Craig Stammen postgame. 

With King’s performance and the lineup’s ability to score off Woo, Stammen called upon Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, and Mason Miller, who collected his fifth save of the campaign, to cover the ballgame’s last three frames.

The Friars will look to make it seven consecutive wins on Wednesday when they send out a re-invented Randy Vásquez to counter Emerson Hancock. First pitch is slated for 6:40 p.m.