Kyle Hart returned to the major leagues on a misty evening at Petco Park and helped the Padres to a bit of history.

Five games into the season, they have not lost.

Monday’s 7-2 victory over the Guardians made them the first Padres team in the franchise’s 57-year history to begin a season with five victories.

“Being part of history is pretty cool,” Manny Machado said. “First time in history to do that. It’s a good way to start off the season — start off hot and start off on the right path and continue to grow. Job isn’t done. There’s a lot of obstacles we’re still gonna have to overcome. But it’s definitely a good start, for sure.”

Hart allowed two runs – on solo homers by José Ramirez in the first inning and Austin Hedges in the third — en route to his first big-league win.

“I’ve waited a long time for that,” said Hart, who pitched 11 innings for the Red Sox in 2020 before spending the next two seasons in the minor leagues and last year in Korea. “Waited a long time for that beer shower. Just thrilling. It’s awesome, too, that it’s on the heels of four consecutive wins. … It’s been an unbelievable start.”

The 32-year-old left-hander got a big boost from two big innings, both of which featured half of Gavin Sheets’ four RBIs, and from Machado’s Mensa-level and Oscar-worthy play in the fifth inning.

Before what was possibly the most unique 1-5-4 double play ever perpetrated, the Guardians had runners on first and second with no outs after a Gabriel Arias single and a walk by Hedges began the fifth.

Then, with Bryan Rocchio at the plate, Arias took off for third. Hart heard the yell of “Step off” from the infielders, and his throw to Machado beat Arias by five steps. Arias ran slowly into Machado standing up and essentially wrapped his arms around the third baseman while standing between him and second base.

Machado astutely attempted a throw to second base, albeit without the ball in his right hand. Third base umpire John Bacon called Hedges out by virtue of Arias’ interference. Both Machado and second baseman Jake Cronenworth were credited with assists.

That left the bases empty. So a single by Rocchio was rendered harmless, and Hart ended the inning by getting Steven Kwan on a fly ball to right field.

“Obviously, just trying to get a double play there,” Hart said. “And it was unconventional, but it was a double play.”

The Padres clobbered a pitcher also making his first start with a new team.

Luis L. Ortiz, acquired by the Guardians from the Pirates in a December trade, allowed four runs in the second inning, as the Padres took a 4-1 lead on a pair of singles, a pair of walks, a double and a sacrifice fly.

On the night his first bobblehead giveaway swelled the Monday crowd to 43,404, Jackson Merrill led off the second with a single. Walks by Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts followed, and Sheets drove in Merrill and Cronenworth by lining a double to left field on the first pitch he saw. Jason Heyward’s fly ball to right, the first out of the inning, scored Bogaerts and moved Sheets to third. And Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-out single brought in Sheets.

Hedges, making his first start of the season back in the ballpark where his career began in 2015, began the third inning with a home run to the Western Metal Supply Co. building’s second balcony.

The Padres padded their lead with three runs off Ortiz in the next half-inning.

All three runs came with two outs after the Padres wasted a runner on second base with no outs.

Machado led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and stole second before Merrill sent a 102 mph line drive to the right side that Arias, the Guardians’ second baseman, caught and threw to Rocchio covering second base to double up Machado.

Another Cronenworth walk and an infield single by Bogaerts followed, and Sheets doubled down the left field line to score both. Jason Heyward’s first hit of the season — and first with the Padres — drove in Sheets to make it 7-2.

Sheets was 3-for-3 with a walk. His heroics Monday, plus the fact he is 7-for-15 this season and a hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the season opener, has already inspired a chant of “Holy Sheets” at Petco Park.

Only one other Padres team had ever been 4-0 — the 1984 team that ended up going to the franchise’s first World Series.

“Off to a good start,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Clearly playing really good baseball across the board. … Doing all phases — the pitching, the bullpen has been great, situational hitting, defense, base running, everything is on point.”

Originally Published: March 31, 2025 at 9:16 PM PDT