BALTIMORE — If the Padres keep this up, they’re going to need spiked shoulder pads, mohawks and dusty, shredded leather outfits.
No more travel on cushy charters. It’s four-wheelers with lung-choking exhaust systems and blaring heavy metal music from now on.
The bunch with a losing record at Petco Park is now seven games over .500 after a 9-4 win Saturday against the AL-East leading Orioles because they find comfort away from the comforts of home.
No word on whether “Mad Max” star Mel Gibson is belting out imioned clubhouse speeches to these road warriors.
“That’s hard to do,” said Xander Bogaerts, who finished 3-for-5 Saturday with a triple and two doubles. “Coming off the break, everyone is rested and lined up their starters. Then to do it against two division leaders.
“We’re playing our best baseball at the moment without arguably our best player (injured Fernando Tatis Jr.). That’s a huge accomplishment for us.”
The Padres own the best winning percentage away from home of any division in baseball other than the AL East. They’re now 7-1 on this trip, which includes two teams that began each series a combined 41 games over break even.
In the last 15 games on the road, they’re 12-3.
“The pitching’s been outstanding,” manager Mike Shildt said. “They’ve been able to go deep into games. The at-bats have been relentless, they’ve been situational, we’ve executed at a high level. When those two are married, it’s a pretty good thing.”
This is the Padres’ run fans have craved for more than two seasons. They’ve pitched like crazy. They’ve hit, aplenty. They’ve mostly made the plays, committing just two errors in 72 innings since the All-Star break.
Those who rule the road need a little luck, too.
That came in the second inning when Kyle Higashioka popped a ball up with two on and two outs. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson kept calling for a ball that third baseman Ramon Urias had parked under.
Henderson arrived when the ball did, bumping his teammate enough to cause the ball to hop out of the glove and fall to the short-outfield grass. Jackson Merrill already had jogged to the plate and David Peralta cruised in behind him.
The error was charged to Urias, though Henderson caused the chaos. Instead of harmless traffic, the Orioles gifted the visitors an early two-run cushion. Two innings later, another Orioles error on a double-play attempt allowed another run to hit the board.
Warriors require toughness, too.
Starting pitcher Michael King caught considerable shrapnel on the fifth pitch of the game, a 109 mph dart off the bat of Orioles leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson that hit his calf. He stayed in the game and carried the water until an out into the seventh.
Add it to the calculus of another road win against another rock-solid team.
“We know those are really good teams, obviously,” Shildt said. “But it’s really about how we compete and how we play the game. We do our part, we’ll feel good about, you know, to shake hands.”
The Orioles did not play clean, as the baseball crowd likes to say. The Padres, however, produced enough damage on their own.
In the seventh inning, they strung together four consecutive hits. After Jurickson Profar and Jake Cronenworth singled, Manny Machado hit a three-run homer 413 feet to center field.
When Bogaerts tripled, a fourth run scored on Merrill’s sacrifice fly to right. Merrill added another run-scoring sacrifice fly two innings later.
Make . Stir in power. Add fundamentals as the cherry on top.
“We’ve been playing really good baseball overall, defensively, offensively, pitching staff, the bullpen is coming in and shutting down innings,” said Machado, who finished 3-for-5.
“Just overall, we’ve been playing really good baseball. It has nothing to do with being on the road, being at home.”
That’s what players say when there’s a chance the unsaid also could be true, that they have not playing up to standards at home. There’s no denying, though, that the Padres are the hottest team in baseball, winning seven straight.
All on the road.
“I think we can compete with anybody,” King said. “We’ve just got to hold ourselves able to that level of play. It was great to see against the Nationals, because we just came off a good series against the Guardians. And continuing it here was a good step.”
Home. Road. Wherever you stand on the discussion, there’s one thing all agreed on.
The Padres are churning out the type of baseball that beats anyone, anywhere.
“We’ve just got to keep riding it, keep playing how we’ve been playing and keep rolling,” Machado said.
Keep the spiked shoulder pads handy, just in case.
