Padres Week in Review: A Win To Rescue A Disastrous Road Trip

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 1-6

Runs scored last week: 27

Runs allowed last week: 56 (season run differential: minus-42)

Scores

• Game 83 (Monday): Cubs 3, Padres 2
• Game 84 (Tuesday): Cubs 9, Padres 7
• Game 85 (Wednesday): Cubs 23, Padres 3
• Game 86 (Thursday): Dodgers 12, Padres 7
• Game 87 (Friday): Dodgers 4, Padres 3
• Game 88 (Saturday): Dodgers 3, Padres 0
• Game 89 (Sunday): Padres 5, Dodgers 2

Week in Review and Highlights

Cubs series

Game 1: In the only three games the Padres will play outside of SoCal in the three weeks before the All-Star break, a taught affair escaped the Friars' clutches. This game came down to two wind-blown flyballs to left field, with the second one coming in the ninth inning and providing a walk-off 3-2 victory for the Chicago Cubs. The ninth inning certainly deserves scrutiny as that is where the game was ultimately decided, but the Cubs' first run came after left fielder Samad Taylor, whose only previous appearance in left field at Wrigley Field came in one game in 2023, misplayed a Seiya Suzuki fly that went for a double. Suzuki would score three batters later to trim the Padres' lead to 2-1.

More importantly, the ninth came down to Jason Adam being extended to a second inning and not being able to get an out. Adam needed 13 pitches for a perfect eighth inning, but then gave up a single on a 3-2 changeup to Dansby Swanson and a single to Pete Crow-Armstrong on a 2-2 changeup. That prompted manager Craig Stammen to bring in superstar right-handed closer Mason Miller. While it wasn't technically a save situation, it certainly felt like it considering the circumstances. Miller gave up a single on a 1-0 slider to Alex Bregman, loading the bases. Michael Busch then hit a shallow fly near the left-field line that Jase Bowen, who came in to play left after Taylor was pinch-hit for in the top of the ninth, caught and fired a one-hopper to catcher Freddy Fermin to easily nail Swanson at the plate for a double play. That brought up Suzuki, who launched an 88 mph slider on a 1-0 count deep to left field. Bowen was back at the wall, but his leap was just off, leaving him with just a handful of ivy as Crow-Armstrong crossed home with the winning run.

Otherwise, the Padres had to be encouraged by some things from this game. That included the start by embattled right-hander Griffin Canning. After having an opener in his previous two outings, Canning started and went 4⅓ innings after getting just two outs last time. He looked better, giving up a pair of runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He was pulled in the fifth after giving up a leadoff double to Swanson and a one-out walk to Bregman. Left-hander Kyle Hart came in and walked the switch-hitting Busch to load the bases and then a sacrifice fly to Suzuki that tied the game 2-2. The Padres had built a 2-0 lead with runs in the third and fourth innings, with a Fernando Tatis Jr. fielder's choice driving in Xander Bogaerts for a 1-0 lead and Miguel Andujar and Bogaerts doubling for a 2-0 advantage.

Game 2: Imagine a game where Tatis goes deep twice and the Friars four times overall and you still didn't feel like you really had a chance to win the game. That is basically what happened as the Padres dropped a 9-7 decision to the Cubs. Chicago had a 5-1 lead after two innings and the Padres made a late push with a four-run eighth inning to pull within the final margin. But it was another familiar story: A poor start by the pitching staff. This time, it was left-hander JP Sears. After a terrific first MLB start this season last week, Sears didn't have the same stuff and was tagged for seven runs (six earned) in 4⅔ innings, including five runs (four earned) in the first two innings. Sears was hammered for three homers, two coming in a four-run second. Swanson hit a pair of homers after coming into the series with a .190/.287/.362 slash line, but is 5-for-8 in the first two games vs. the Padres.

Tatis' two blasts gave him 157 for his career, moving him past Phil Nevin and into fourth in Padres history. He led off the game with a monster blast to left, his fourth of the season. His fifth was a solo blast into the basket in right field. That came a batter after Gavin Sheets hit a three-run blast. Machado also went deep for his team-leading 16th, a two-run shot in the top of the third that pulled the Padres within 5-3. The Cubs created space with a three-run fifth off Sears and right-hander Ron Marinaccio, who gave up Swanson's second blast of the game.

Game 3: What do you say after a 23-3 loss? Not much. So here it is. Swanson hit three homers, including a grand slam, and drove in eight. The Padres gave up a club-record eight homers. Sung-Mun Song hit his first career homer for the Friars. Right-handed starter Walker Buehler gave up nine runs in a game for the first time in his career. The 20-run loss was a club record. The 23 runs tied a club record. Career minor-league catcher Rodolfo Duran pitched two more innings, his second appearance in five days, to save the pitching staff, but giving up eight runs. The Padres have lost five straight as they head to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers.

Dodgers series

Game 1: For a brief time, it looked like the Padres were well on their way to snapping their five-game losing streak. They hit three home runs in the first two innings to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead against the Dodgers. Then, the rotation issues struck again. An avalanche of Dodgers runs followed and the Friars were on the wrong end of a 12-7 decision, extending their skid to six games, matching their season worst. The streak made the Padres a .500 team at 43-43 for the first time since they were 6-6 on April 8. Right-handed starter Randy Vasquez, who had a scary incident after leaving the game, lasted just three innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk. No telling whether Vasquez was feeling off while in the game, which could have led to his fainting spell.

Still, it was a dispiriting loss for the Padres after smacking around Dodgers right-handed starter Roki Sasaki in the first two innings. Machado hit a two-run homer, his 17th this season, in the first inning, then Jackson Merrill hit a solo shot, his ninth, and Cronenworth unloaded a three-run blast, his second this year and first since coming off the concussion list to begin the week, to put the Friars comfortably on top 6-0. Only these are the Dodgers and they are clicking at the moment. Two runs in each of the bottom of the second and third innings and a four-run fourth put L.A. up 8-6, but it continued with two more in the fifth and another in the sixth for a 12-6 advantage.

In another scary situation, Fermin took another foul tip off his facemask and could be heading back to the concussion list for the second time this season. He went out for a mound visit a couple pitches after taking a Freddie Freeman foul, with teammates signaling for help as the meeting was breaking up. The good news is Luis Campusano (broken right big toe) was on a rehab assignment at Triple-A El Paso, so he could easily step in.

Game 2: While the day started off with good news that Vasquez was OK following his fainting spell, it most certainly did not end well. Michael King, the de facto No. 1 in this rotation, bounced back from a miserable last start, but a rare blip by a top bullpen arm relegated the Padres to a 4-3 loss, their season-worst seventh straight, dropping the team below .500 at 43-44. The Padres also lost Vasquez (bruised ankle) and Fermin (head contusion) to the 10-day injured list.

The Friars built a 3-0 lead against ace right-hander Shohei Ohtani, including Merrill's 10th homer of the season. King, after throwing just 68 pitches, was sent out to begin the seventh inning, where he walked cleanup hitter Mookie Betts and gave up a single to Max Muncy. Left-hander Adrian Morejon was asked to extricate the Padres from this situation against a surging Dodgers offense. Kyle Tucker's potential double-play ball was mishandled by Cronenworth at second, loading the bases. The very next pitch, a center-cut slider, was sent 419 feet into the Dodger Stadium bleachers for a grand slam.

While Cronenworth and Merrill each had two hits in the game, and Merrill scoring twice, the Padres couldn't get a baserunner on in the final two innings, putting a nail in a frustrating loss in a frustrating stretch.

Game 3: One of the nice things about the Friars' offense being in a better place than it was a month ago is that they have been able to not be stifled by another team's star pitcher. Well, Yoshinobu Yamamoto proved to be an exception to that pattern as the Dodgers' right-hander struck out 10 and allowed three hits over seven innings in a 3-0 shutout of the Padres on the Fourth of July, San Diego's eighth loss in a row, the worst streak of the year and longest since 2013 (10 games). Two of the Padres' four hits in the game came in the first inning on singles by Tatis leading off and Sheets with two outs. Bogaerts singled leading off the second, which was the last hit the Padres would get until Tatis' two-out double in the eighth.

Canning, back with an opener in left-hander Wandy Peralta, pitched four effective innings, giving up one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Left-hander Kyle Hart allowed a run in two innings with three punchouts and right-handed closer Mason Miller, having not pitched since Monday and who was named an All-Star before the game, worked the eighth, but gave up a run and didn't have a strikeout.

Game 4: Give the Padres credit. Despite being in a funk for the last week-plus, they put themselves in position to win three of the four games against the Dodgers. And after dropping the first three games of this series, it would have been easy for the Friars to be in their feelings and check out of the finale against their NL West rival. Instead, the Padres stood strong and this time held a lead unlike the first two games of the series, coming away with a 5-2 victory that snapped MLB's longest active losing streak at eight games.

Maybe it was the fight that the coaching staff showed on the game's third pitch when a check-swing appeal went against Tatis. That prompted persistent chirping from infield coach Ryan Goins, who was ejected by the home plate umpire. Stammen came out to get an explanation and then offered his 2 cents, which earned him the rest of the day off.

Did that inspire left-handed starter Sears, who had a 7.99 ERA at Triple-A and was rocked for seven runs just five days earlier, yet held the two-time defending World Series champions to zero hits until there were two outs in the fifth inning? Did that fuel Machado, who delivered the crushing offensive blow with a three-run homer on an 0-2 fastball in the top of the seventh? Regardless of where it came from, the Padres showed a lot of fortitude in ending a seven-game road trip in which the future of their season came into question with, while not spectacular, a rock-solid victory. The only glitch on the day was a two-run bottom of the seventh in which Morejon worked in and out of trouble after inheriting a runner at first base. Miller struck out one of the three batters he faced in a perfect ninth for his 22nd save in as many chances.

But in order for this win to mean anything, other than preventing the Dodgers from becoming the first MLB team this season to reach 60 wins, the Padres will need to show the same mettle when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks for the next four games at Petco Park. The Padres and D'backs are tied at 44-45, four games out of an NL wild-card spot.

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 2-1, 0.98 ERA, 35 games, 22 saves (22 chances), 36⅔ IP, 17 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 13 BB, 67 K, .137 opponent average
• Named to his second All-Star Game, also going in 2024 with the Oakland A's. The Padres have had their closer in the last four All-Star Games.
• With 22 saves, is tied for the NL lead with Riley O'Brien of the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Of the 110 outs he has recorded, 67 have come via strikeout (60.9%).
• Did not have a strikeout Saturday, his first outing since May 19 without one and his first in a full inning without a punchout since back-to-back outings April 23 and April 25.
• Has gone 58 innings without allowing an extra-base hit, the longest in the Expansion Era (1961), surpassing the 56 innings by Luis Aquino of the Kansas City Royals (1988-89).

Random Friars Stats

• Manny Machado's homer run Sunday gave him the most homers in Padres history against the Dodgers with 26, breaking a tie with Dave Winfield.
• Fernando Tatis Jr.'s on-base streak ended at 23 games in the series finale vs. the Cubs as he went 0-for-4. That streak matched his career best and was tied for the longest in MLB.
• Tatis now has 17 career leadoff homers.
• Tatis' leadoff double Thursday had an exit velocity of 115.7 mph, his hardest ball in play since Sept. 11, 2024, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Per Opta Stats, the Padres became only the second team in MLB history to lose six consecutive games while giving up 75 hits, 60 runs, 15 homers and 30 walks, joining the 1929 Philadelphia Phillies.
• Wandy Peralta, who started as an opener Saturday, has seven shutout innings in his six starts and has allowed a .167/.200/.208 slash line.

Transactions

• Monday: Activated 2B Jake Cronenworth from the 7-day concussion list.
• Monday: Recalled RHP Bradgley Rodriguez from Double-A San Antonio.
• Monday: Placed RHP David Morgan on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sunday with left knee inflammation.
• Monday: Optioned IF Will Wagner to Triple-A El Paso.
• Thursday: Placed RHP Jason Adam on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Tuesday with a right shoulder strain.
• Thursday: Activated RHP German Marquez from the 15-day injured list.
• Friday: Placed RHP Randy Vásquez on the 15-day injured list with a right ankle contusion.
• Friday: Placed C Freddy Fermin on the 10-day injured list with a head contusion.
• Friday: Activated C Luis Campusano from the 10-day injured list.
• Friday: Recalled RHP Alek Jacob from Triple-A El Paso.

Website Highlights

• After brutal loss and sweep, Padres feel like a team on the brink of collapse — Randy Holt
• Song remains a perplexing evaluation for Padres — Yirsandy Rodriguez
• Adam's injury will hurt more than his WAR suggests — Randy Holt
• After one start, Sears has reintroduced himself as a viable rotation candidate — Randy Holt
• Padres hitters of the month for June: Tatis rediscovers stardom — Gottie Chavez
• Padres pitchers of the month for June — Brendan Dentino
• Padres minor-league hitters of the month for June — Steve Drumwright
• Padres minor-league pitchers of the month for June — Steve Drumwright
• Padres Mission podcast — Randy Holt and Steve Drumwright

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Diamondbacks at Padres (Walker Buehler), 6:40 p.m.
• Tuesday: Diamondbacks at Padres (German Marquez), 6:40 p.m.
• Wednesday: Diamondbacks at Padres (Michael King), 7:10 p.m.
• Thursday: Diamondbacks at Padres (Griffin Canning), 6:40 p.m.
• Friday: Blue Jays at Padres (JP Sears), 6:40 p.m.
• Saturday: Blue Jays at Padres (Walker Buehler), 5:40 p.m.
• Sunday: Blue Jays at Padres (German Marquez), 1:10 p.m.