PADRES REACH TOUGH PART OF SCHEDULE

The Padres were going down quick Friday night. Then things changed just as quickly. And then they changed again.

The Padres led the Giants 4-3 in the fourth inning at Oracle Park after a flurry of inactivity was followed by a flurry of activity.

Jakob Junis needed just 17 pitches to retire the first six Padres batters he faced, and the Giants took a 1-0 lead with two singles, a walk and a sacrifice fly in the second inning against Sean Manaea.

Then Ha-seong Kim hit the third pitch of the third inning off the bag at second base for a single and Trent Grisham grounded into a fielder’s choice on the second pitch he saw.

Two pitches later, the Padres led 3-1 — on a double down the left-field line by Jorge Alfaro that scored Grisham and Jake Cronenworth’s two-run homer over the tall wall in right field. It took a little longer to get their fourth run. Manny Machado grounded a 3-1 pitch into right field for a single and went to third when Eric Hosmer grounded out on the fifth pitch he saw.

The Giants had been in a shift with third baseman Evan Longoria on the right side of second base and shortstop Brandon Crawford shaded almost all the way to second, so no one was covering third.

When Junis’ fifth pitch to Jurickson Profar bounced away from catcher Curt Casali, Machado ran home to put the Padres up 4-1.

That margin was narrowed four pitches into the bottom of the third when Austin Slater led off with a single and Darin Ruf homered to left field.

Friday’s game marked the start of a new chapter of the season for the Padres, as it was just their seventh game against a team currently possessing a winning record.

The Padres play 16 of their next 19 games against such teams.