The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5, on Friday night and improved to 79-68. It was their fifth win in a row, but with the Arizona Diamondbacks' win on Friday as well, their half-game lead for the final wild-card spot remains the same. Southpaw Robbie Ray struck out five across five innings of work, but allowed five earned runs — including a grand slam from former teammate Rafael Devers. It was still enough, however, to clinch career-win No. 100 for the two-time All-Star and Cy Young award winner. Luckily for both Ray and the Padres' playoff chances, the Padres put up seven runs in the two innings prior. Jackson Merrill had a three-hit night while Dustin Harris and Freddy Fermin each recorded two hits and two RBIs apiece. Ahead of the game, Ty France left the team as he was placed on the Paternity List. He was replaced on the roster by infielder Mason McCoy.In other news, the Padres may have some bad news regarding Gavin Sheets and his lingering foot injury. Sheets has been out since the end of August, and could be forced to undergo surgery to fully heal the injury.In better news, MLB experts have overwhelmingly picked the Padres to snatch the final wild-card spot in the National League. ESPN's Jorge Castillo, among a few others, spoke highly of the Friars and their second-half dominance. "It comes down to the Padres' offense. For most of the season, San Diego's bats were inexplicably muted," Castillo said. "Fernando Tatis Jr. didn't hit his first home run until May 30. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill weren't producing. The Padres ranked 24th in the majors in wRC+ through July 23. Since then, they're fourth."Finally, manager Craig Stammen appears to have lost trust with his starting pitchers. The skipper knows perhaps better than anyone the kind of pressure placed on the bullpen this season, with Friday's win being no different. However, it is a whole new ball game in October when it comes to who will take the mound and for how long. "The current staff that we have, we’re going to manage it the same way that we would a lot of playoff games," he said. "You know, where we’re going to be probably aggressive with taking the starter out of the game and using our bullpen that we feel is a strength of our team.”Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article): Padres Slugger Could Undergo Surgery for Lingering Foot Injury MLB Experts Overwhelmingly Agree on Wild-Card Winner Between Padres, Diamondbacks Padres Appear to Have Lost Trust in Veteran Starting PitchersPadres Tweets of the DayThe @Padres pick up their 5th straight win! pic.twitter.com/uoaX8tjJRv— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2026Padres slugger Gavin Sheets could need surgery to address his lingering injury😳😳😳Read more below⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/q0ikDx4i1a— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) September 11, 2026Esto está que arde 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/ZqTPs2G39t— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2026"He's an athlete, man. You knew he was going to figure it out eventually."Jackson Merrill has 14 HR and 41 RBI with a .912 OPS in the second half for the @Padres! 📈 pic.twitter.com/Wks7vtKLda— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 12, 2026📍The Bay pic.twitter.com/15j5tVqpnN— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2026Robbie Ray gets career win number 100 as the #padres beat the Giants 7-5#forthefaithful pic.twitter.com/lGnmsEr0Ay— Padres Central (@PadresCentral_) September 12, 2026Putting in work. pic.twitter.com/S84KvjxmKr— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2026Dustin Harris JUST misses his first #padres home run but its an RBI triple regardless, and it's 6-1 over the Giants Robbie Ray just needs to pitch the end of the 5th for the milestone 100 wins mark pic.twitter.com/SBNZL87un2— Padres Central (@PadresCentral_) September 12, 2026We have recalled INF Mason McCoy from Triple-A El Paso and placed INF Ty France on the paternity leave list.— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 11, 2026Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow