Padres drop 7th straight, fall under .500 despite King's strong effort

LOS ANGELES -- The Padres outdid themselves on Friday night. And not in a good way.

The losses keep piling up -- now seven straight, after their 4-3 defeat at Dodger Stadium. And somehow, each loss on their current skid feels worse than the last.

The Padres got a strong effort from starter Michael King and another home run from Jackson Merrill. But a costly error from second baseman Jake Cronenworth set up Teoscar Hernández’s go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning. And that was that.

Here’s some reaction from Dodger Stadium, as the Padres fell below .500 for the first time since April 7, when they were 5-6:

A costly, costly error

Cronenworth has been one of the Padres’ most reliable defenders across his seven seasons with the club. But this was a particularly dreadful time for the second baseman's second error of the season.

Or, as Cronenworth himself put it: “It’s the most important stretch of our season, and I can’t make a play on a routine ground ball and lose us the game.”

The Padres had a 3-0 lead in the seventh, when manager Craig Stammen lifted King and called for left-hander Adrian Morejon, a ground-ball specialist. Morejon induced what should have been a double-play grounder from Kyle Tucker -- until Cronenworth simply booted it.

“Morejon comes in the game, I know a ground ball is coming to me,” Cronenworth said. “I’m anticipating it the whole time when he’s walking in from the bullpen. And I didn’t make the play and lost the game for us.”

Not exactly. San Diego still had a 3-0 lead. But that loaded the bases, and one pitch later, Hernández made the Padres pay. He launched a go-ahead grand slam into the left-center-field pavilion.

The moment the ball left Hernández’s bat, Cronenworth slumped, his hands on his knees, visibly sickened. Padres fans everywhere could surely relate.

A solid performance from King, wasted

King has made no secret that he wants to be an ace. This was the time to show it. The Padres are struggling, and their rotation has been hit hard by injuries lately. They needed King to step up.

He did. King threw six scoreless innings on 68 pitches, perhaps the sharpest he’s looked all season. Certainly the most efficient. He managed to limit most hard contact, striking out five while allowing just three hits across six-plus. He was lifted in the seventh after putting the first two runners on.

“I located pretty well,” King said. “Felt like I kept them off-balance pretty good. … [It was] fine. But didn’t win the game.”

Still, this was an excellent performance from King, no matter what happened after his exit. Of course, the ending made it all the more painful. The Padres haven’t gotten much from their starters lately. But on Friday they squandered the best start they’ve gotten in weeks.

“He dominated,” Stammen said of King. “It was a great outing by him. It was one of his best. … He knew we needed it, and he gave it to us. We just weren’t able to finish it off for him.”

Was Stammen’s hook too quick?

On one hand … no. Morejon got precisely the double-play grounder that the Padres needed from him. On the other hand? Well, the Padres bullpen has been taxed heavily of late. And Morejon promptly surrendered Hernández’s grand slam on a hanging slider.

The Tucker matchup clearly called for Morejon. But King -- in Stammen’s own words -- dominated. He’d also thrown only 75 pitches. The Padres clearly need more length from their starting pitchers. King was in position to give it to them.

He walked Mookie Betts to open the inning. But Max Muncy’s ensuing single was of the seeing-eye variety. That brought Tucker to the plate and Stammen to the mound, much to King’s displeasure.

“Yes,” King said afterward, amid a clubhouse as subdued as any postgame clubhouse all season. “I wanted that next guy.”

Stammen had other ideas. As heavy as the workload has been on some of the Padres’ other relievers, Morejon and closer Mason Miller haven’t been used much during the losing streak. They were fresh -- and they’re two of the best bullpen arms in the sport.

“We feel really good about the back end of our bullpen, especially those two guys,” Stammen said. “We felt at that point in the game we could hopefully finish it with just those two guys.”

Alas. Miller would once again remain in the bullpen, unused.