You couldn’t have asked for more than what David Wells gave in his return to the San Diego Padres. On Sunday at Petco Park he kept Reds hitters off-balance with an assortment of pitches and his trademark command of all of them. Wells tantalized with just enough mid-60s curve balls that batters had trouble catching up to his average fastball. The one guy he walked all day, Adam Dunn, had homered against Jake Peavy the previous game and it was clear that Wells wanted nothing to do with him.

Wells also contributed at the plate, laying down a sacrifice bunt and singling to center. The latter resulted in one of the more comical (it’s only funny because the Padres won and Wells didn’t hurt himself) plays of the season. On a two-out single to shallow right field off the bat of Brian Giles, third base coach Glenn Hoffman inexplicably chose to send Wells home from second despite having #3 hitter Mike Cameron on deck. The result, predictably enough, was ugly, with Wells being thrown out by three buffet tables. Hoffman has done a fantastic job at third all year, so I’ll have to go with the theory suggested by one caller to the post-game show — that the heat had gotten to him.

Speaking of Hoffman, little brother Trevor nailed down the save — #472 — with a scoreless ninth. He needs six more to tie Lee Smith for the all-time saves mark, seven to break the record. Hoffman’s ERA is back below 2.00 on the season and he leads the NL with 36 saves. Can we get the national sports media to declare any other Padres washed up? Please?

How the Padres positioned themselves for the win is another story. Whatever issues folks may have with manager Bruce Bochy, the guy earned his paycheck on Sunday.

Here’s the situation: Reliever Cla Meredith, who threw two more scoreless innings (yawn — he’s so predictable), is due to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Reds manager Jerry Narron sends right-hander Todd Coffey, who had worked the seventh, out to the mound and waits to see who Bochy will send up to hit for Meredith. Bochy’s options are as follows:

• lefty: Russell Branyan, Terrmel Sledge, Todd Walker
• righty: Ben Johnson, [Reader Bryan notes that Johnson is still at Portland, which makes Narron's decision even more curious] Mike Piazza
• switch: Geoff Blum, Rob Bowen

Bochy chooses his worst left-handed hitting option, Sledge. That is enough to get Narron to bring in southpaw Rheal Cormier. The Padres counter by having Piazza hit for Sledge. So now the Pads have their best right-handed bat off the bench up against a lefty, and their two best left-handed bats are still available if needed. Well played, Mr. Bochy.

For his part, Piazza responds by driving a sharp single to left. Bochy lifts Piazza for a pinch-runner. But rather than waste a guy who can help out in some other way, Bochy calls on Khalil Greene, who has just been activated from the disabled list but who cannot hit or play the field due to his lingering finger injury. Shortly thereafter, of course, Greene scores what would prove to be the game-winning run. Well played again.

The Padres now find themselves up by 1 1/2 games in the wild card and just 3 back in the NL West with 26 games left in the season (some folks will remember that the Padres were 3 back with 3 games left in 1996 and won the division). Both the Padres and the Dodgers play most of their remaining games on the road, which is great news for the Pads, who are 6 1/2 games better than LA away from home.

Great to see Wells look sharp in his return. Great to see Hoffman close in on history. Great to get a crucial win in a meaningful September game. Great to be a Padres fan right now.