SAN DIEGO _ This is how things are going lately for the San Diego Padres.
Before Friday's game at Petco Park, almost two dozen mannequins in various repose were placed on the Barrel Deck beyond right field. One of them stands facing away from the field, and on the back of its pinstriped replica home jersey is the number "4" with "SLAM DIEGO" across the shoulders.
In the second inning Saturday, Padres rookie Jake Cronenworth launched a grand slam that bounced about 10 feet to the right of that mannequin.
The jersey will have a "6" on the back come Sunday.
Cronenworth's slam, the Padres' major league-record fifth in six games and their sixth this season, was the capper on a nine-run second inning.
That was also the Padres' fifth of six home runs in the game. Three of those were hit by Trent Grisham; it's the 11th time a Padre has hit three homers in a game.
The 13-2 rout of the Astros was the Padres' sixth straight victory, their longest streak since winning seven in a row in June 2013.
The laugher was just what they needed on a night their bullpen required a rest as badly as it had all season. Same for what Zach Davies accomplished in going eight innings after an uncharacteristic first inning in which he threw 13 balls among his 22 pitches.
A night after starter Garrett Richards got through just two innings, Davies threw more pitches than he had in any of his opening innings this season. Having walked just five batters all season, Davies walked two of the first four batters he faced Saturday and allowed a run on Yuli Gurriel's sacrifice fly.
Astros starter Brandon Bielak watched Davies struggle and essentially said, "Hold my beer."
The Padres, who on Friday played just their fifth game this season without hitting a home run, hit two solo homers in Saturday's first inning.
Grisham led off the game with a blast to right field, and Manny Machado sent one out to center field two batters later.
After Wil Myers led off the second inning with a shot to the seats in left field, Grisham's second homer of the night came on the second-to-last pitch Bielak would throw.
His final pitch hit Fernando Tatis Jr.
The umpires conferred and issued a warning to both benches. The Padres were incensed Bielak wasn't ejected. The Astros were not happy a warning was issued because Bielak threw a change-up at Tatis rather than the fastball that is customary when sending a message.
Both managers had their say with crew chief Alfonso Marquez. When the Astros' Dusty Baker was finished, he walked to the mound to remove Bielak.
Humberto Castellanos came in and gave up a single to Machado before getting Eric Hosmer on a line drive to center field. Ty France hit an RBI single that scored Tatis, and Myers singled to load the bases.
Cronenworth then yanked a 3-1 fastball an estimated 365 feet.
Tatis, whose grand slam Monday ignited this historic run for the Padres, raised both hands to the sky as the ball cleared the wall.
As was the case when Tatis, Myers, Machado and Hosmer made the Padres the first team to ever hit grand slams in four straight games, the Padres became the first team to hit five in a six-game span.
Meanwhile, Gurriel's sacrifice began a run of 13 straight Astros retired by Davies. Taylor Jones' first big-league homer with one-out in the fifth inning ended that run and was one of three total hits Davies allowed through six innings.
Davies becoming the first Padres pitcher to go eight innings this season served as a Band-Aid for a battered bullpen.
"It would be nice for Davies to grab some length and get deep into this ballgame, no doubt about that," manager Jayce Tingler said Saturday afternoon.
He had expressed virtually the same wish before a number of games this season. It was as true as ever Saturday.
Padres relievers entered the night having pitched 110 2/3 innings, fourth most in the National League and 11th most in the majors.
That doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story of their immense workload.
After the bullpen handled at least four innings in each of the past five games (26 innings in all), at least four of the 11 relievers were unavailable Saturday. Cal Quantrill threw 32 pitches Friday. Javy Guerra threw 28. Emilio Pagan threw 21 after throwing 16 Thursday. Pierce Johnson threw 15 after throwing 14 Thursday.
Further, the Padres had not settled on a starting pitcher for Sunday and, whoever it ends up being will not be counted on to go deep.
