Good morning from Seattle,

The Padres are in a better spot at the start of this road trip than they were at the end of the last one.

Most notably, they are tied with the Dodgers for first place in the National League West.

Most importantly, given that there are 31 games remaining, the Padres are playing better for the most part.

“I would say better than for the most part,” manager Mike Shildt said. “I think we played excellent baseball. If you go 5-2 (in a homerstand) and win both series, I’d say you did a lot of things excellent. You know, we’re not perfect.”

No team is. And that is why the question Shildt answered had included the words “better for the most part.”

They did, after all, lose yesterday’s game by six runs. They did fail to get Gavin Sheets past second base after he le

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