Going into the bottom of the sixth on Monday night, the San Diego Padres trailed the Chicago Cubs 3-1 and were faced with an outcome they haven’t endured since Game 4 of last year’s NLDS – losing a game at home. However, the Padres’ power bats woke up starting in that bottom of the sixth and carried the team to a 10-4 thumping of the visiting Cubs, including two home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. That win pushed the Padres to 11-0 at Petco Park this season and 13-3 overall. They’re in first place in what may be MLB’s toughest division. In all, seven of their 11 straight home wins have come against teams that made the postseason last year (the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians), and Monday night’s triumph came against a fellow first-place team.
The Padres are just the sixth team in MLB history to start the season 11-0 or better at home, according to the CBS Sports research desk. Since 1900, just the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers with a 13-0 home start and the record-holding 2023 Tampa Bay Rays with a 14-0 home start have longer such streaks to begin a season.
MLB Power Rankings: All hail the NL West as Padres soar into No. 1 spot with best record in baseball
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The Pads’ unlikely run at their home digs hasn’t, generally speaking, been a matter of eking out wins. Just of those 11 wins have been by one run. By comparison, six of their 11 home wins have been by five runs or more. Overall, the Padres have outscored the opposition 62-15 at home this season. Framed another way, that’s an average score of 6-1, rounded off, for each win. As you may have surmised from that figure, San Diego pitching has been suffocating at Petco this season. Over those 11 games, Padres moundsmen have pitched to a 1.27 ERA with only one unearned run allowed in 99 innings with 110 strikeouts against 26 unintentional walks. That’s dominance, to point boldly to the obvious.
Looping in the offense for comparison, the Padres at home in 2025 have batted .291/.369/.462 with 13 home runs in 344 at-bats. Meantime, the opposition at Petco this season has a slash line of .163/.230/.354 with six home runs in 343 at-bats.
“Our play is equaling the crowd, the crowd is equaling our play — I don’t know which way you want to look at it,” manager Mike Shildt said after that 11th straight home win to start the season. “You’re talking about a Monday night, and this place is jammed and rocking. It means a ton.”
Jammed and rocking indeed. The Padres right now rank third in MLB in average home attendance with a figure of 42,073 – or more than Petco’s listed capacity. The only teams ahead of them are the reigning champion, massive-market Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels. This isn’t really new for the Padres, who through the roster investments of late owner Peter Seidler and thanks to their run of success over the last half-decade or so have cultivated an enthusiastic and already devoted fan base. No surprise, then, that the environment at Petco is playing a supporting role in what’s going on right now.
Speaking of which, the Padres will be back at it at home on Tuesday night against those same Cubs (CHC -120; SDP +100; over/under 7.5, per BetMGM). Complete the sweep of the Cubs, and the Padres will have tied the 2009 Dodgers’ 13-0 mark before a six-game road trip to Detroit and Houston. Then they’d come back home on April 25 with an opportunity to tie the all-time record for best home start to a season. Their opponent for that next home series would be, coincidentally, the record-holding Rays.
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