SAN DIEGO -- Despite homers from Manny Machado and Ramón Laureano, the Padres couldn’t overcome an early four-run deficit Tuesday night. They dropped their second straight game to the Phillies and their third straight overall, 4-3.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park:
Offense still isn’t clicking
This was an encouraging night from Machado. He launched a laser of a two-run homer into the left-field seats in the fourth inning at 108 mph off the bat. In the seventh, he worked a leadoff walk.
But with the tying run at second base in the eighth inning, Machado stepped to the plate and hit a check-swing dribbler to third base, putting an end to the Padres’ best chance to tie the game or take the lead.
That’s how it’s gone lately. The Padres are now 2-for-38 with runners in scoring position on the homestand, including 0-for-25 across the past four games.
The RISP woes are relatively new. For most of the season, San Diego has been one of the league’s better teams with men in scoring position. But on the whole, the Padres’ offense hasn’t done enough.
There’s usually a strong night from an individual or two. On Tuesday, it was Machado and Laureano. But team-wide, it’s been a bottom-10 offense in just about every category.
“We’ve just got to continue to move forward, continue to think positive all the time,” Laureano said. “It’s not going to end up like that, I’ll tell you that.”
Still, the longer this offense flounders, the louder the questions get. Phillies starter Aaron Nola has struggled lately. But, aside from Machado, he allowed only two other baserunners across six innings -- on a pair of infield hits by Gavin Sheets (preceding the Machado homer) and Xander Bogaerts.
The Padres played a brilliant defensive game. Their bullpen was outstanding. They fell behind early. But four runs shouldn’t be insurmountable.
“We battled the whole game,” manager Craig Stammen said. “We played our tails off. It was awesome defense. Made a lot of great plays, kept us in the game. We did everything in the game that we could’ve done to stick with them, outside of getting that big hit.”
That’s becoming a theme.
Vásquez hitting a rough patch
Randy Vásquez started the season brilliantly -- and did the Padres ever need it, considering all the early injuries and question marks in their starting rotation. But lately, he hasn’t been quite as sharp.
On Tuesday night, Vásquez allowed homers in each of the first three innings. In fact, oddly enough, he recorded the first two outs in each of those innings, before surrendering a solo home run.
“It is really frustrating,” Vásquez said through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “You think you have the ability to get out of the inning. And that happens at the end of the inning. It’s frustrating.”
It was a second consecutive shaky outing from Vásquez, after a poor start against the Dodgers last week. Then again, even in Vásquez’s poor outings, he usually does his best to keep the Padres in the game -- which he did Tuesday, pitching into the sixth.
“Even though they were able to hit those home runs, I kept battling,” Vásquez said. “I never put my head down. I thought I was able to just keep moving forward, attacking guys as I usually do.”
Merrill magic in center
It’s still mind-boggling that Jackson Merrill had never played center field -- at any level -- until he arrived at Padres camp before the 2024 season. He’s been so smooth since day one, it looks like he’s been playing there his whole life.
On Tuesday, Merrill robbed Edmundo Sosa of a home run to end the top of the fourth inning. It wasn’t spectacular -- at least not compared with the other three homers he’s robbed this season. Merrill simply ranged toward the wall, contorted his body and leapt at just the right moment. He came down with the ball.
It has been a dreadful season for Merrill at the plate. That continued on Tuesday night, as he went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. But for all of those struggles, Merrill clearly hasn’t carried them into the field.
“He’s had a great season, other than hitting,” Stammen said. “He’s played great defense, and he’s run the bases really well. … We feel really good with him playing center field. We believe it’s just a matter of time before he starts swinging with a hot bat. He’s struggling right now, but we’re behind him, and we’ve got his back.”