SAN DIEGO — The race is on in the National League West.

A day after the Padres walked off the Dodgers in dramatic fashion, the reinforcements arrived at Petco Park on Wednesday. For the first time, San Diego manager Mike Shildt had the entirety of his new-look, high-octane bullpen at his disposal.

Then the Padres made quick work of Clayton Kershaw, building a six-run lead. The full force of that bullpen could wait for another night. This one was a laugher, an 8-1 San Diego victory over Los Angeles.

With a sweep of the two-game series this week, the Padres narrowed their deficit in the NL West to 4 1/2 games, the smallest that gap has been since May 4. They also clinched the season series over the Dodgers for the first time since 2010 — which essentially narrows that gap even further, because the Padres would own a potential tiebreaker.

The division race everyone expected in 2023 might end up materializing a year later instead.

In an encore to his no-hitter, right-hander Dylan Cease worked 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Such is the nature of Cease’s recent dominance, that it qualified as perhaps his worst start in four weeks.

Jason Heyward’s second-inning infield single snapped a string of 46 plate appearances by opposing batters without a hit against Cease. Cease ultimately surrendered three hits and three walks, along with his first run since July 7.