ATLANTA -- Manny Machado and Ty France went deep, but the Padres couldn’t muster much else offensively as they dropped their series opener in Atlanta, 3-2, on Monday night
Here’s some instant reaction from Truist Park:
An offensive letdown
The Padres scored 19 runs on Sunday in Kansas City, the most they’ve scored all season. For an offense that ranks near the bottom in most offensive categories, you began to wonder if there was any chance Sunday’s game might be a turning point.
Doesn’t look like it. The Padres followed that performance with two runs on Monday night. They got homers from Machado and France but very little else. It was a disappointing beginning to what could be a crucial week.
“It’s in there,” France said. “We just need to find a way to be more consistent with it. And we’ve kind of got to figure it out fast.”
No kidding. Monday’s game marked the first of four in Atlanta, followed by three in Miami. Those are two teams San Diego is looking to chase down in the National League playoff race. The Padres' course at the Trade Deadline -- now less than two weeks away -- might be contingent on where they find themselves within that race.
As of the final out Monday, the Padres (49-51) sat three games back in the Wild Card race. They’re still within striking distance. But they could clearly use reinforcements, both in the rotation and on offense.
At this time of year, every win could make general manager A.J. Preller more likely to splurge. Then again, every loss might have the opposite effect. For now, the Padres are doing their best to downplay that outside noise.
“If you’re looking at just the Trade Deadline, yeah, these games are important,” said manager Craig Stammen. “But I don’t think it’s like: The season’s over if you lose a game before the Trade Deadline.
“There are going to be 50 games past the Trade Deadline that are equally as important as these [next 12] games. So we’re focusing on finishing the season well -- not just to the Trade Deadline.”
A rare feat for Manny (no, not the homers)
The surprising thing isn’t that Machado launched his 20th home run of the season on Monday night. Machado has done that in all seven of his full seasons with the Padres. In fact, he’s the only player in franchise history with more than five 20-homer seasons. (Nate Colbert, Dave Winfield, Adrián González and Fernando Tatis Jr. all have five.)
No, the surprising part was what happened in Machado’s prior at-bat: He dropped a bunt for a base hit up the third-base line.
It was a beauty. And when Machado reached safely, it marked his first successful bunt single since 2017 when he was still an Oriole.
“Just trying to get a rally going there, get one of our hottest guys up to the plate [France] with runners in scoring position,” Machado said.
Who knows? It might have even led to what came next. Machado only has eight bunt singles in his career. Three of those -- including Monday -- came in games in which he also homered.
“He got down the line very well,” Stammen said of Machado’s bunt single. “He also got down the line very well on his home run. I will take both of those every single night.”
Plenty from Sears
The Padres are piecing it together in their starting rotation. They have Michael King at the front and a handful of question marks behind him.
So they will absolutely take what they got from starter JP Sears on Monday night. Sears allowed two runs (one earned) across five solid innings. He was nearly perfect through four, allowing only an Ozzie Albies single (which was promptly erased with a double play).
“Really efficient,” Sears said. “I was happy to get some quick outs. … I made a lot of really good pitches today, and I felt like I had control of the zone.”
Sears began to wobble in the fifth, allowing Michael Harris II’s game-tying homer, then Joey Bart’s go-ahead double. He also found some tough luck. Mauricio Dubón was only on base for Bart because of catcher’s interference. Then, Dubón was only able to score because of an awkward carom down the left-field line.
Still, it was an admirable effort, especially considering Sears was feeling under the weather for most of the day, Stammen said. (That was part of the reason for Sears’ hook after five innings and only 55 pitches.)
The Padres can’t really ask for much more from Sears.
What can they ask for more from? The offense that left him on the hook for the loss.