It was another rough game for the San Diego Padres. After dropping three straight, the Padres have lost the series to the Philadelphia Phillies and will attempt to stave off the sweep in this afternoon’s finale.
Starter Randy Vásquez did not live up to his recent level of play, giving up four runs in just 5 2/3 innings pitched. That included three homers, one in each of the first three innings. After the third, Vásquez settled down, though it would have been four if not for a Jackson Merrill robbery
at the wall in center field.
Manny Machado and Ramón Laureano both homered to make the game more interesitng, but the Friars still failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities. Still, the offense definitely looked better. They’ll need to be even more on point in today’s game against Philly’s ace.
Taking the mound
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) v. Walker Buehler (SD)
Sánchez has been making his case for the National League Cy Young Award after finishing runner-up in 2025 to Paul Skenes. He owns a ridiculously low 1.62 ERA in his first 11 starts of the year.
The interesting thing is Sánchez has always been known as a ground ball pitcher, inducing grounders and weak contact better than just about anyone. But this season, he’s striking out batters at a higher clip than before. Through 72 1/3 innings pitched, the lefty has struck out 86 batters.
On the other hand, Buehler has not been making a run for the Cy Young award. Though he’s been a mostly reliable back end starter, he’s yet to find any consistency. The right-hander owns a 5.06 ERA across 46 1/3 innings.
His last few starts have been solid, giving up three or less runs in each of his last three outings. But Buehler struggled mightily with his command against the Athletics on Friday. He’ll need to pitch with much more control against Philadelphia if the Padres hope to avoid the sweep.
Batter up!
Despite looking like he might have had his first big-league homer of the season, Fernando Tatis Jr. did not hit one out of the park yesterday. He went 1-for-4 after going 6-for-12 in his previous four games. If Tatis can continue to heat up, it would mark a turning point for this Padres offense.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Gavin Sheets, 1B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Miguel Andujar, DH
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Nick Castellanos, RF
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Rodolfo Durán, C
Andujar was dropped in the lineup yesterday after some recent struggles with his bat. That will likely stay the case today, with Bogaerts remaining second in the order. The latter owns a .500 career batting average against Sánchez in eight at-bats.
Merrill’s bat has been ice-cold lately and he hasn’t looked quite like himself at the plate. He’s still offering the Padres value in his glove, as evidenced last night, but he’ll need to turn things around soon.
Relief corps
Despite Vásquez not getting particularly deep into the game, only three relievers needed to be used to finish it off. Bradgley Rodriguez, Wandy Peralta and Adrian Morejon each pitched a scoreless outing, looking as dominant as ever. Peralta walked two in the eighth inning to make things interesting but got out of the jam.
That leaves plenty of options for today’s finale if Buehler stumbles early. Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui and closer Mason Miller will all be available out of the ‘pen today. Marinaccio or Matsui will likely be first out of the ‘pen unless the game is close when Buehler exits.
