WASHINGTON _ The Padres moved from one sweltering location to another on Friday, trading the heat and humidity of Busch Stadium for the heat and humidity of Nationals Park. A four-game sweep by St. Louis had been made especially oppressive by the weather. The conditions, though, may have helped in at least one respect.
On another night the ball carried far and true, Matt Kemp launched one home run, then another, single-handedly extending a notable streak. The Padres, who stamped a 5-3 victory in their series opener against Washington, have homered in 20 consecutive games. The last National League team to do that was the 2008 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kemp, the Padres' oft-maligned right fielder, has homered in five of his last six games. In the latest of those, he drove in all of the Padres' runs, supporting a similarly impressive performance by rookie right-hander Luis Perdomo.
The 23-year-old recovered from a two-run first to shut out the opposition over the next six innings. Perdomo's seven total frames represented a career high. He shackled the Nationals' bats, collecting 14 groundouts, including six in a row. Washington got four hits and one walk off him.
Kemp, meanwhile, took flight. In the top of the first, he staked Perdomo to an early lead with a 388-foot solo shot into the visiting bullpen. Washington's Jayson Werth responded in the bottom of the first by golfing a sinker over the left-center wall.
A two-out walk and an RBI single by Wilson Ramos ensued. The Nationals held a 2-1 lead until the top of the fifth.
In that inning, Brett Wallace was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Perdomo and scored a tying run on Melvin Upton Jr.'s two-out single. Ryan Schimpf walked. Kemp stepped to the plate.
On a 2-1 count against Tanner Roark, Kemp saw an elevated fastball and met it with a resounding thwack. The resulting drive landed near where Werth's did, 423 feet from home plate. Three runs scored, unknotting the game.
Kemp, a 31-year-old with bad hips and a burdensome contract, is the Padres' least likely player to go somewhere else by the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Still, his offensive numbers indicate he can bash with the best of them. If the Padres are ever to find an opening to move the veteran, it would have to come on the heels of a sustained hot streak.
Friday's multi-homer showing was Kemp's second of the season, and the ninth of his career. Through 94 games, he is up to a team-leading 22 home runs. Last season, his first with San Diego, he totaled 23.
Roark was chased after five innings. Entering the game, the Nationals righty had gone at least seven innings in five consecutive starts.
Perdomo easily out-dueled him. In one long stretch, he retired 16 of 18 batters, most of whom beat Perdomo's bowling-ball sinker into the ground. The only interruption was a pair of one-out singles in the fourth.
An interesting experiment at the beginning of the season, Perdomo, who had never pitched above Double-A, has turned into a legitimate rotation option for 2017. The Padres already have traded two starting pitchers and likely will soon deal a third in Andrew Cashner.
To make room for Triple-A El Paso's Hunter Renfroe, they also would like to move an outfielder. Melvin Upton Jr., a candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, is far more likely to go than Kemp. A Yahoo Sports report Friday said the Padres were telling teams they were close to trading Upton, though, at least for now, that may simply be part of a negotiating tactic.
