The final score won't move anyone's needle in October. A 5-0 shutout over a Reds team that fell to 65-73 with the loss is just a Monday night box score. What should catch your eye is that Michael King just turned in his fifth straight quality start, and if you're the Padres, that stretch should make you a little nervous even while you're celebrating the win.
King went six innings in Cincinnati, allowed four hits and three walks, struck out six, and didn't give up a run. It's not a one-off. By the numbers being tracked on this, no Padres starter has strung together quality starts like this since Matt Waldron did it from May 28 to June 24, 2024. A pitcher rolling like this in the middle of a playoff push is exactly the kind of run that gets remembered come free agency.
And free agency is very much the subtext here. King signed a three-year, $75 million deal with San Diego last December that comes with opt-outs after this season and next. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand has already flagged the worst case for the Padres: King bolting for a bigger deal this winter. Feinsand went as far as calling King "widely viewed as the second-best starting pitcher on this winter's free-agent market behind only Skubal." Every clean six-inning outing like this one is a point in King's favor and a headache for San Diego's front office. Nights like this make an opt-out more likely, not less, and the Padres should already be bracing for it.
King shares the marquee with Manny Machado, who went 4 for 4, a double and three singles, in his first four-hit game since July 27, 2025. That's the kind of line that can carry a lineup on a night when the offense needed a big inning to break things open. It got one: a four-run fourth built on a string of hits against Reds starter Brady Singer put the game away before Cincinnati had a real chance to answer. Ty France added an RBI single in the seventh, and that was that.
The standings are where this actually matters, and nothing about this race is settled. San Diego came into Monday off a three-game sweep in Tampa Bay, so this was a real bounce-back after an ugly week. Right after the final out, San Diego was tied with Arizona for the last NL Wild Card spot. Once Arizona lost later that night to Philadelphia, the Padres moved back into that spot outright. Entering the next day's games, San Diego's edge over Arizona was half a game, with the season set to end with the Padres hosting Arizona in the final series of the year. That margin will keep flipping in both directions before anyone settles it, likely in person.
Take the shutout for what it is: a needed correction after a bad series, a huge night from Machado, and more proof that King is pitching his way toward a much bigger contract, possibly somewhere other than San Diego. The Padres will take the win. They should also start planning for the version of this story where King pitches his way right out the door.
