The San Diego Padres continued their freefall toward mediocrity with their fifth straight loss to the Philadelphia Phillies this time by the score of 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The Padres were finding ways to win despite their inconsistent offense through the first 50 games of the season but have not had that same luck over their last 10 games. San Diego is 2-8 over that span and is in danger of being swept by Philadelphia for the second time as they enter the final
game of the series today at 10:05 a.m.
The Padres had their chances, yet again, to win a game against the Phillies, who had Christopher Sanchez on the mound, but like the day before, they failed to come up with a clutch hit with one out and runners on the corners in the top of the eighth inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a one-out single and was followed by Miguel Anduja, who singled to put runners on the corners. Manny Machado struck out for the second out of the inning, but then Gavin Sheets walked to load the bases and Xander Bogaerts was hit by a pitch to force in a run to make the score 3-2. With the bases loaded Ty France hit a ground ball to Philadelphia second baseman Bryson Stott who forced out Bogaerts at second base to end the threat and the inning.
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran got his second save of the series facing just three Padres in the ninth inning. He got Jackson Merrill to lineout and then struck out Bryce Johnson and Samad Taylor to close out the contest. Merrill provided the lone highlight for San Diego with an RBI-single off Sanchez in the top of the seventh inning. He followed France who hit a two-out double and came into score with Merrill’s hit. It was the first run allowed by Sanchez in 50.2 innings.
Walker Buehler started for the Padres and pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Jason Adam, who has not been the same dominant reliever since returning from his ruptured quadriceps tendon, allowed home runs to J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the seventh inning, which proved to be the difference in the game. San Diego will try to salvage the series with a win today.
Padres News:
- The moved seemed inevitable based on his struggles at the plate and his limited defense in the outfield, but Nick Castellanos was officially released by the Padres on Wednesday. The move allowed San Diego to callup Samad Taylor from Triple-A El Paso and he made his first appearance with the Padres in the eighth inning last night. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball provided details about Taylor and how he played his way onto the big-league roster.
- German Marquez may rejoin the San Diego rotation soon. He started his rehab assignment with the El Paso Chihuahuas with 2.1 innings pitched without allowing a run and striking out three batters.
Baseball News:
- Shohei Ohtani continued to dominate both sides of the baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers with a six-inning scoreless performance on the mound and a day at the plate that saw him reach base five times in their 7-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred provided his thoughts on the initial proposals from the owners and MLBPA.
- The Atlanta Braves continued their run of success with a 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park.
- The Cleveland Guardians won their second game in as many days with a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees, which allowed them to clinch the series victory.
- The Boston Red Sox rolled to an 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.
- Fromer Padres closer and current Houston Astros closer, Josh Hader made his season debut and got his first save with Hoston’s 11-9 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Logan Webb led the San Francisco Giants to a win by making a no-hit bid and not allowing a run in their 1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
- The Los Angeles Angels recorded 16 hits and scored 11 runs to beat the Colorado Rockies.
