Padres Week in Review: A Good Way To Enter The All-Star Break

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 4-3

Runs scored last week: 31

Runs allowed last week: 32 (season run differential: minus-43)

Scores

• Game 90 (Monday): Diamondbacks 8, Padres 0
• Game 91 (Tuesday): Padres 4, Diamondbacks 1
• Game 92 (Wednesday): Padres 10, Diamondbacks 4
• Game 93 (Thursday): Diamondbacks 3, Padres 1
• Game 94 (Friday): Blue Jays 5, Padres 3
• Game 95 (Saturday): Padres 8, Blue Jays 7
• Game 96 (Sunday): Padres 5, Blue Jays 4

Week in Review and Highlights

Diamondbacks series

Game 1: No need to sugarcoat this. The Padres' players, as much as the fans, know how important of a stretch the team is in this week with the All-Star break and trade deadline looming. Facing an Arizona Diamondbacks team that was tied with the Friars entering the four-game series, the Padres came off an uplifting victory Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers and were flat in an 8-0 loss. The game started with a Ketel Marte triple that wasn't played well by center fielder Jackson Merrill set the tone.

“We just played an overall bad game,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said. “There was a lot to it.”

There certainly was. For starters, right-hander Walker Buehler turned in a second straight stinker. After giving up nine runs in four innings in the 23-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Buehler gave up seven runs, including two homers, in five innings vs. the D'backs: two in the first, four in the third and another in the fourth. Before those two games, Buehler had been the most consistent Padres starter, even if that isn't saying a great deal. Buehler's ERA, at 3.96 four starts ago, now sits at 5.07.

Much like the Padres, the D'backs have been a Jekyll-and-Hyde team. No clearer example of that is right-handed starter Brandon Pfaadt, who was just recently promoted from Triple-A and came into the game with a 5.84 ERA. But Pfaadt, who has a career ERA of 5.10, struck out six in five shutout innings, only giving up four hits and no walks. The Friars did finish with eight hits as Merrill and Jake Cronenworth each had a pair.

Game 2: Listen, we're all looking for signs of positivity from the Padres at the moment. But when Cronenworth, who just came back at the beginning of the previous week from missing two months due to getting hit in the face by a pitch and sustaining a concussion, took a grounder to the face during batting practice. The scary situation ended up just being a bloody nose. But then Cronenworth, playing first base, booted a grounder by the second batter of the game. Not a good start. Cronenworth bounced back and made a splash, cranking a three-run second-inning homer that sent the Padres to a 4-1 victory over the D'backs. The home run came in Cronenworth's first game back at Petco Park since going on the concussion list. Cronenworth is showing how valuable his bat can be. After an 0-for-4 start upon his return, Cronenworth has been 9-for-25 with a pair of homers and six RBIs in seven games.

Surprisingly, that would be about all the offense the Padres would need. That is because right-hander German Marquez, in his first start since coming off the 15-day injured list with right forearm irritation, stunned most everyone by going five innings and allowing just a run on three hits. He did walk three, while striking out four. His velocity was back up around 98 mph on his four-seamer after topping out at 95.3 in his start before going on the IL. But it looked grim in the first inning as Marquez gave up an unearned run (due to Cronenworth's error) while battling through 31 pitches, which had to send manager Craig Stammen into a bit of a panic with his bullpen possibly having to cover a lot of innings. Marquez held steady and made it through five innings, a distance he went just once during his six-game rehab assignment, on 82 pitches.

Left-hander Yuki Matsui gave up a couple of singles in the sixth inning, which prompted Stammen to call upon right-hander Jhony Brito, who was pitching in his first game since 2024 after having elbow and flexor tendon surgery in April of last year. Brito's first pitch was hit for an inning-ending double play, then he had a perfect seventh inning, paving the way for right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez and closer Mason Miller, who locked down his 23rd save in as many chances with a pair of strikeouts.

Game 3: For once in quite a while, the Padres had a game where the other team looked sloppy. They capitalized on a rookie pitcher making his fourth career start by pounding out 13 hits and Friars right-handed starter Michael King looked good again in a 10-4 victory over the D'backs. It didn't start well for King, who gave up just the second first-inning run of his season on a walk, a steal and a double. Yet he recovered very nicely to make it through six innings on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Yeah, the D'backs aren't a world-beating offense, but this was the type of performance the Padres will need from King the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, the Padres rattled D'backs right-hander Jose Cabrera utilizing small ball. That was clear in the fifth inning. Already up 2-1, Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch with one out and stole second. Merrill hit a comebacker to Cabrera, who spun and made an ill-advised throw to second to try and get Tatis, who dove back safely with Merrill reaching first. Tatis continued dancing off second and provoked Cabrera to balk the runners up a base. With the infield drawn in, Xander Bogaerts grounded a single off the shortstop's glove and into shallow left to score both runners to make it 4-1. The Padres then pounced on the D'backs' bullpen in the sixth for four runs, including Luis Campusano's first home run since coming back from his broken left big toe over the weekend. Sung-Mun Song, Tatis and Merrill added RBI singles as contributions came throughout the order. An unsung star was Miguel Andujar, who had three doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Campusano also had a pair of hits for the second game in a row as the Padres reached double digits in runs for the first time since May 5 and just the third time this year.

Game 4: Facing the guy who said state taxes made the difference in choosing to remain in Arizona rather than sign with the Padres, the Friars had a tough time doing anything against right-handed starter Merrill Kelly in a 3-1 loss to the D'backs, settling for a split of the four-game series. The loss also put the Padres below .500 again at 46-47. If it wasn't for Machado, who blasted his team-leading 19th homer to begin the second inning and a fourth-inning single, it would have been worse. As it was, the Padres totaled just three hits (Tatis had the other in the third inning), while also getting three walks, including two by Campusano. In other words, Merrill was pretty good, striking out six over seven innings.

Padres pitching was good, just not good enough for this game. Right-hander Griffin Canning still didn't give enough length, but did go 4⅔ innings, his longest in five outings since three straight five-inning starts. The encouraging thing is that the Friars did not use an opener with Canning, who did allow two runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts. This was his first start this season without a walk. Matsui, however, did walk a pair and gave up a run in following Canning before Rodriguez, left-hander Wandy Peralta and left-hander Adrian Morejon finished things off. With a chance to win three out four against a team the Padres will be battling for an NL wild-card spot, it was a tough loss.

Blue Jays series

Game 1: This was a bit of a microcosm of the season. The Padres produced double-digit hits and sprinkled in three walks, but could time their production to manufacture more runs. It turned into a 5-3 loss against a struggling Toronto Blue Jays team. The Friars started out with a bang as Bogaerts smashed his ninth homer, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the first for a 2-0 lead. Yet that would be the extent of run production until Merrill's ninth-inning RBI single. While the Padres were facing a pitcher with a quality pedigree in right-hander Shane Bieber, they did manage six hits and three walks in 4⅔ innings, but couldn't deliver a true knockout blow. The Jays' bullpen was stingy after that, allowing just one hit until the ninth inning.

Padres left-handed starter JP Sears was solid, but went just 4⅓ innings, giving up three runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts. After giving up a run in the fourth, he exited after yielding singles to two of the first three batters he faced in the fifth. A slumping Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had an RBI single off Brito, then Kazuma Okamoto delivered the big blow, a three-run homer, his 22nd, for a 5-2 lead. Aside from Bogaerts' homer, three Friars had two hits in Machado, Ty France and Rodolfo Duran.

Game 2: Sometimes a bad trait infects both teams for a game. This was one of those times. The Padres benefited from 11 walks, but also issued six free passes of their own. It was the Friars who took better advantage and walked away having survived an 8-7 victory over the Jays thanks to France's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth. Oh, and neither starter made it past the second inning. It was that type of game. The Padres pounced on rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, a Jays postseason hero last year, who gave up just one hit, but walked seven while getting just five outs, leading to. pair of two-run innings in the first and second. But Buehler again wasn't good as he walked four over two innings, leading to a four-run second inning.

The Padres took the lead again with their third two-run burst in the first three innings, this one courtesy of Sung-Mun Song's two-run single to center. Cronenworth tacked on a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 7-4. The Jays showed some fight by pushing across three runs in the top of the sixth against Matsui to tie it, but France's 11th homer made the difference.

Game 3: This seven-game homestand and the first half may not have gone the way the Padres hoped, but they did end it on a positive note. Behind a three-hit day from Machado, including a tying single in the eighth inning, and France's go-ahead sacrifice fly after, the Padres pulled out a 5-4 victory over the Jays. Now, they enter the All-Star break having won twice to get back to .500 at 48-48. This will be a good feeling for a team that hasn't had too much to be proud of since a hot April. They are just 17-27 since a win on May 23 had them a half-game out of first place in the NL West. The Friars are now in third place, a whopping 12½ games out of first and 3½ games from the final NL postseason slot.

The Padres only scored in two innings, but that was enough. Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the second, Cronenworth had an RBI single, Song a bases-loaded walk and France scoring on a balk for a 3-1 advantage. The Jays tied it in the fourth against Marquez, making his second start in a row, then took the lead in the eighth with a run against Morejon. Bogaerts started the rally in the bottom of the eighth with a single and his 12th stolen base. Machado's third hit of the day was a line single to center to easily plate Bogaerts, tying the game 4-4. Machado went to second on a Gavin Sheets groundout, then was replaced by pinch-runner Jace Bowen, who promptly stole third. France cranked a 1-1 pitch to the warning track in right-center for a sac fly, bringing in Bowen with the go-ahead run.

Then it was time for Miller to do what he does. The All-Star closer sealed the deal with a groundout, a popup and a strikeout of Guerrero for his 25th save in 25 chances. With four days off to get away from baseball a bit, the Padres can relax before hitting the road for a 10-game road trip to Kansas City, Atlanta and Miami.

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 2-1, 0.91 ERA, 38 games, 25 saves (25 chances), 39⅔ IP, 18 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 13 BB, 72 K, .134 opponent average
• Miller is three saves shy of his career best of 28 set in 2024, his first full season in the majors.
• According to OptaStats, he is the first player to have an ERA below 1.00 and a more than 16 strikeouts per nine innings through 35 appearances since 1913, when earned runs were first tracked.
• His 25 saves are tied for second-most in MLB with Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians leads with 28.

Random Stats

• Jake Cronenworth did not have an error in 34 games and 126 chances before going on the concussion list made four errors in his first eight games and 41 chances since coming back.
• The Padres and Blue Jays entered the series having played just 24 times in their histories, tied for the second-fewest of any two teams behind the 22 by the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets.
• After starting the season 13-1 in games in which they had 10 or more hits, the Padres have lost seven of their last 11 such games.
• With 11 combined walks in the first two innings Saturday, the Padres-Blue Jays game was the fourth in the Expansion Era (1961) to have at least that many.
• Joe Musgrove officially hit 10 years of service time Saturday, a huge milestone for players.

Transactions

• Tuesday: Recalled RHP Jhony Brito from Triple-A El Paso.
• Tuesday: Optioned RHP Alek Jacob to Triple-A El Paso.
• Wednesday: Placed LF Samad Taylor on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain.
• Wednesday: Selected the contract of 3B Luis Rengifo from Triple-A El Paso.
• Wednesday: Sent C Freddy Fermin on a rehab assignment to Triple-A El Paso.
• Wednesday: Signed free-agent LF Dustin Harris to a minor-league contract.
• Saturday: Activated RHP Matt Waldron from the 15-day injured list.
• Saturday: Optioned RHP Jhony Brito to Triple-A El Paso.

Website Highlights

• Padres select Coleman Borthwick in the first round of MLB Draft — Steve Drumwright
• Merrill's issues with fastballs finally has an origin — Randy Holt
• Matsui is the Padres' escape artist — Yirsandy Rodriguez
• Padres system analysis: Trades have depleted majority of prospect capital — Steve Drumwright
• Rodriguez's changeup has changed everything — Yirsandy Rodriguez

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Home Run Derby, 5 p.m.
• Tuesday: All-Star Game, 5 p.m.
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: Padres at Royals, 5:10 p.m.
• Saturday: Padres at Royals, 1:10 p.m.
• Sunday: Padres at Royals, 11:10 a.m.