Cease pitches into the 9th and Machado hits 2 of Padres' 4 homers in a 4-0 win vs Astros

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dylan Cease pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Donovan Solano hit consecutive homers in the eighth for the San Diego Padres, who beat the AL West-leading Houston Astros 4-0 on Wednesday.

Machado homered twice for the Padres, who won two of three against the Astros and stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks and Mets for the first NL wild card. Houston came in with a five-game division lead over Seattle, which hosted the New York Yankees later.

Cease (14-11), who threw his first career no-hitter on July 25 at Washington, took a one-hitter into the ninth before Mauricio Dubón beat out an infield single to shortstop. Cease struck out Jake Meyers but then shortstop Xander Bogaerts booted Jose Altuve's grounder for an error that allowed Dubón to take third, and that was it for the right-hander after 103 pitches.

Cease retired the first 15 Astros batters before allowing a single to right field by Jason Heyward to open the sixth. Cease then retired the side.

Cease said it was probably the third-best start of his career, following his no-hitter and his near no-hitter against Minnesota in 2022 with the Chicago White Sox. That one was broken up with two outs in the ninth by Luis Arraez, who is now his Padres teammate.

“I remember looking up through six or seven and the pitch count was reasonable and I went up to Rueben (Niebla, the pitching coach), and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to get through the eighth and ninth today,'” Cease said. “He said, ‘Hey, just take it one at a time,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ When you get through six with a low pitch count, it's very easy to dream about going further.”

Cease struck out five and walked none. Tanner Scott got two outs for his 21st save, completing the two-hitter.

“Just attacking the strike zone, mixing it up and relying on my defense, really," Cease said.

Padres manager Mike Shildt called Cease “dominant. He was outstanding. Controlled counts, just a ton of life with everything. The ball was jumping. ... He was in control the whole way."

“Dylan Cease is a special talent,” Shildt added.

Machado, who has 29 homers, lined a leadoff shot to left-center against Framber Valdez in the sixth.

Tatis, who struck out in his first three at-bats, hit reliever Kaleb Ort's first pitch into the first row in left-center leading off the eighth. It was his 19th. Machado followed with a shot deep into the seats in left and Solano hit a liner to left, his seventh. That was it for Ort, who threw just nine pitches.

“That was awesome,” Cease said. “Talk about kind of getting some breathing room right there, it was pretty amazing.”

The Padres are closing in on their third playoff berth since 2020. Their 37-17 record since the All-Star break is the best in the majors.

“We beat a really good club out there,” Machado said. “It's fun. We're playing really good baseball. We beat a really good ballclub that we're probably going to be facing later on, so to go out there and play like we did and have Cease throw like he did, it was a good day.”

Of course, if the Astros and Padres meet again, it will be in the World Series.

“We've been playing postseason baseball for the last month,” Machado said. "Every game counts, man. I mean, it’s fun, man. ... It's a little taste of it. This is not over.

“We've always understood what the goal is all year and nothing's changed. We're going to continue to think that way."

Playing in front of three loud sellout crowds at Petco Park provided an atmosphere that was “playoff-caliber, that's for sure," Shildt said. "All three games were nip-and-tuck.”

Valdez (14-7) went seven innings, allowing one run and five hits while striking out six and walking two.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: Arraez got the day off to rest his sore left knee, which he jammed into home plate while being thrown out on Monday night. Arraez started at DH on Tuesday night.

UP NEXT

Astros: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (9-9, 4.29 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday night in the opener of a four-game home series against the Los Angeles Angels, who will go with LHP José Suarez (1-2, 6.80).

Padres: RHP Joe Musgrove (6-5, 4.23 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night's home series opener against the 117-loss Chicago White Sox, who are set to go with LHP Garrett Crochet (6-12, 3.78).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Houston Astros relief pitcher Kaleb Ort looks on as San Diego Padres' Donovan Solano rounds the bases after giving up his third home run in three consecutive batters to Solano during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres catcher Elias Diaz, second from left, pats starting pitcher Dylan Cease on the chest as Cease exits and third baseman Manny Machado looks on, right, during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease is greeted in the dugout after exiting during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, right, celebrates with teammate Donovan Solano after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, right, celebrates with third base coach Tim Leiper after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado celebrates after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado tosses his bat after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease adjusts his hat as he works against a Houston Astros batter during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump's fourth scheduled stop in eight days in Wisconsin is a sign of his increased attention as Republicans fret about the former president's ability to match the Democrats' enthusiasm and turnout machine.

“In the political chatter class, they’re worried," said Brandon Scholz, a retired Republican strategist and longtime political observer in Wisconsin who voted for Trump in 2020 but said he is not voting for Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris this year. “I think Republicans are right to be concerned.”

Trump's latest rally was planned for 2 p.m. Central time Sunday in Juneau in Dodge County, which he won in 2020 with 65% of the vote. Jack Yuds, chairman of the county Republican Party, said support for Trump is stronger in his part of the state than it was in 2016 or 2020. “I can’t keep signs in,” Yuds said. “They want everything he’s got. If it says Trump on it, you can sell it.”

Wisconsin is perennially tight in presidential elections but has gone for the Republicans just once in the past 40 years, when Trump won the state in 2016. A win in November could make it impossible for Harris to take the White House.

Trump won in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 23,000 votes and lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes.

On Tuesday, Trump made his first-ever visit to Dane County, home to the liberal capital city of Madison, in an effort to turn out the Republican vote even in the state's Democratic strongholds. Dane is Wisconsin’s second most-populous and fastest-growing county; Biden received more than 75% of the vote four years ago.

“To win statewide you’ve got to have a 72-county strategy,” former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, said at that event.

Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting his candidacy have outspent Harris and her allies on advertising in Wisconsin, $35 million to $31 million, since she became a candidate on July 23, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact.

Harris and outside groups supporting her candidacy had more advertising time reserved in Wisconsin from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5, more than $25 million compared with $20 million for Trump and his allies.

The Harris campaign has 50 offices across 43 counties with more than 250 staff in Wisconsin, said her spokesperson Timothy White. The Trump campaign said it has 40 offices in the state and dozens of staff.

Harris rallied supporters in Madison in September at an even that drew more than 10,000 people. On Thursday, she made an appeal to moderate and disgruntled conservatives by holding an event in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party, along with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of Trump’s most prominent Republican antagonists.

Harris and Trump are focusing on Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the “blue wall” states that went for Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in the next election.

While Trump’s campaign is bullish on its chances in Pennsylvania as well as Sunbelt states, Wisconsin is seen as more of a challenge.

“Wisconsin, tough state,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, who worked on Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s winning reelection campaign in 2022.

“I mean, look, that’s going to be a very tight — very, very tight, all the way to the end. But where we are organizationally now, comparative to where we were organizationally four years ago, I mean, it’s completely different,” LaCivita said.

He also cited Michigan as more of a challenge. “But again, these are states that Biden won and carried and so they’re going to be brawls all the way until the end and we’re not ceding any of that ground.”

The candidates are about even in Wisconsin, based on a series of polls that have shown little movement since Biden dropped out in late July. Those same polls also show high enthusiasm among both parties.

Mark Graul, who ran then-President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign in Wisconsin, said the number of campaign visits speaks to Wisconsin’s decisive election role.

The key for both sides, he said, is persuading infrequent voters to turn out.

“Much more important, in my opinion, than rallies,” Graul said.

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jill Colvin in Butler, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)