Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Rookie right fielder Franmil Reyes was returned to Triple-A El Paso Thursday when William Myers was activated from the disabled list as a matter of simple mathematics.
The "x" number of at-bats available per game for five outfielders does not divide out as proportionally well as it does for four outfielders.
That said, Padres manager Andy Green also indicated Thursday that one of his four "regular" outfielders -- Myers, Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe and Travis Jankowski -- will be getting more at-bats in the future.
Those would be going to center fielder Margot, who continues to steadily raise his batting average.
Margot was 2-for-3 with two doubles Thursday night in the San Francisco opener of the Padres' seven-game road trip. He is 4-for-6 in his last two starts and is hitting .239 on the season. That is the highest Margot's batting average has been since he went 1-for-4 on Opening Day.
Twenty-three games into the season, Margot was hitting .135. He didn't cross .200 to stay until May 25. Since May 23, Margot has gone 24-for-73 (.329) with seven doubles, a triple and 10 walks for a .410 on-base percentage.
Notebook
• RHP Tyson Ross is 3-2 with a 3.04 ERA over his last eight starts. He has given up 15 runs (14 earned) on 39 hits and 16 walks with 39 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings for a 1.16 WHIP.
• RHP Phil Maton returned from the disabled list Thursday to be scored upon for only the second time in 16 appearances this season. His ERA shot up from 0.56 to 1.13 with one of the two runs being unearned on the Jose Pirela dropped pop fly.
• The Padres have scored a total of seven runs during their current five-game losing streak and have been shut out twice by 1-0 and 3-0 scores. They are hitting .177 (29-for-164) during the slide with 13 walks, nine doubles and one home run for a .237 on-base percentage and a .250 slugging percentage for a .487 OPS. They have struck out 64 times.
• 1B Eric Hosmer is in a 3-for-21 slump with a double and six strikeouts over the last five games. Jose Pirela is 2-for-16. Hunter Renfroe is 2-for-14 with six strikeouts. Christian Villanueva is 2-for-12 with a home run and five strikeouts. Travis Jankowski is 2-for-11.