The San Diego Padres are stuck in a funk. They’ve lost six games in a row and own a .500 record for the first time since April 8. It’s been a rough stretch that has only felt worse by the Friars’ inability to step up in big moment. The club went 3-for-9 with RISP last night and failed to keep the pressure on the Los Angeles Dodgers, leading to a 12-7 loss.
The offense got started quickly, tagging starter Roki Sasaki for six runs on three homers by the second inning. But then, it went dark. And that’s when L.A. went to work. They scored 12 unanswered runs over the next eight innings before the Padres finally put something on the board in the ninth. It was too little, too late.
It’s inexcusable for the pitching staff to surrender that many runs with a six-run lead. Randy Vásquez and Wandy Peralta allowed four each while Yuki Matsui and Germán Márquez gave up two apiece. The loss was an unfortunate reminder of how shaky the San Diego pitching group can be.
Taking the mound
Shohei Ohtani (LAD) v. Michael King (SD)
Ohtani has been well on his way to competing for the NL Cy Young Award. He boasts a 1.58 ERA and minuscule 0.90 WHIP through 79 2/3 innings pitched. That said, he’s gotten tagged in his last few starts. Over Ohtani’s last 18 2/3 innings, he’s surrendered nine runs.
The right-hander faced the Padres in their first series of the year, pitching five scoreless innings against the club. The lineup will need to put up much more of a fight than that to put an end to the losing streak the Friars are currently mired in.
King will be tasked with the role of stopper, as he’s been so many times for San Diego. He’s truly struggled lately, but has the most upside of any pitcher in the Padres’ rotation. King owns a 5.45 ERA in his last seven starts (3.55 on the season).
His last start came against Los Angeles, where he surrendered four runs in just 4 1/3 innings. King struggled to keep his pitches over the plate, giving up four walks to the Dodgers. He’ll need to shove tonight for the Friars to have any chance at winning.
Batter up!
The offense looked healthy in last night’s game. Any time a team puts up seven runs, the lineup is not the problem. Jake Cronenworth has surged since coming off the IL. He’s batting .400 with a home run and three RBI. It’s been exactly what the Padres have needed. (Ironically, Cronenworth has batted 1.000 against Ohtani in his career.)
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Rodolfo Durán, C
- Samad Taylor, LF
Apart from Cronenworth, the rest of the lineup doesn’t have a lot of success against the Dodgers’ two-way superstar. That will need to change tonight, with the Friars hoping desperately to turn their season around.
Relief corps
Márquez covered three valuable innings for San Diego after returning from the IL ahead of last night’s game. That allowed the Padres to only turn to Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui out of the ‘pen. Unfortunately, Jason Adam was placed on the IL to make room for Márquez’s return. That leaves the Friars without a key piece of their relief corps.
Tonight, Kyle Hart, Ron Marinaccio, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez will be available for the Padres. The latter three represent San Diego’s high-leverage options should the game be close when King exits from his start.
