The 2026 season is on life support for the San Diego Padres after losing five of seven games to open the second half of the season following the All-Star break. With three games against the Kansas City Royals (the worst team in baseball at the time) and four games against the Atlanta Braves (a team the Padres swept earlier this season) San Diego was expected to give general manager A.J. Preller some reasons to be a buyer at the upcoming trade deadline. Instead, the Padres dropped 2-of-3 to the Royals and 3-of-4
to the Braves. San Diego was expected to charge out of the gate, but they have limped to just two wins.
San Diego opened its series with the Miami Marlins on Friday night and the offense, as it has been known to do, struggled to get anything going against Miami pitching. The Padres did not record their first hit of the game until the fourth inning when Manny Machado singled to left field. His single was one of just five hits in the game for San Diego while Miami finished with nine hits.
The most critical hit of the night for the Padres came from their most recent roster addition who is also one of their hottest hitters at the moment. Luis Rengifo was called on the pinch-hit for Luis Campusano in the top of the eighth inning. Rengifo stepped to the plate with pinch-runner Jase Bowen on second base after Ty France hit a leadoff double. With one out in the inning, Rengifo hit an 0-1 sweeper that was left over the middle of the plate 361 feet down the right field line for a two-run home run that gave San Diego a 4-2 lead.
Adrian Morejon worked a scoreless eighth inning and turned the ball over to All-Star closer Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth inning. Miller got two groundouts and a strikeout to earn the save and end the game to keep the Padres’ slim playoff chances alive.
San Diego plays the second game of the series against Miami today at 1:10 p.m.
Padres News:
- The Padres minor league system has apparently been taking its cues from the parent club as teams at all levels have struggled to have success over the past week.
- Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta faced live hitters in Arizona as they work back toward a return to the MLB roster.
- The Padres signed their first-round draft pick Coleman Borthwick and could be getting some bullpen help with Jeremiah Estrada on a rehab assignment in El Paso.
- Ty France has been a nice addition to the Padres roster, but he may also be a valuable trade piece if they decide to sell.
- There are a lot of superstitions in baseball and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune tried to determine which Padres player is the most superstitious.
- There is a lot of speculation about what the Padres will do at the trade deadline, but everyone outside the organization and maybe some inside, just have to wait and see.
Baseball News:
- Cam Scchlittler finished with 12 strikeouts to lead the New York Yankees to a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Kazuma Okamoto hit his 23rd home run for the Toronto Blue Jays, but it was not enough to lead them to a win as the Boston Red Sox handed the Blue Jays a 6-4 loss.
- The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners as the two teams battle for the AL West.
- The Atlanta Braves beat the Baltimore Orioles in 10 innings.
- The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 10 innings.
- Gabriel Moreno led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a win over the Washington Nationals.
