LOS ANGELES -- The Padres’ losing streak reached eight games on Saturday night with a 3-0 defeat in Los Angeles. It’s their longest losing streak since they dropped 10 straight during the 2013 season.
Here’s some reaction from Dodger Stadium:
All this losing is taking a toll
How could it not?
“We’re grinding away,” said Fernando Tatis Jr. “Ain’t no fun right now.”
Not only are the Padres in the midst of their worst losing streak in over a decade, but the nature of these losses has also been especially brutal. The Padres lost by 20 runs on Wednesday. Somehow, it got worse on Thursday, when they blew a six-run lead. Then, it got worse than that on Friday, when Jake Cronenworth’s error opened the door for Teoscar Hernández’s go-ahead grand slam.
To that end … this was just a regular, old loss. And a reversion to some of the themes that defined the first few months of the Padres’ season: They fell behind early, and they didn’t hit.
The Padres have now fallen two games below .500 and a whopping five games back in the NL Wild Card race. The Trade Deadline looms less than a month away. The more the losses pile up, the more the Padres might have to seriously consider selling during this trade season.
Though, needless to say, that’s not the way they’re choosing to view it.
“I think you keep showing up every day, knowing that you’ve got games to play yet,” Stammen said. “This little stretch does not define our season. … It didn’t change today, but tomorrow it could change. And we’ve got to believe in that.”
Regression for the bats
Even as they’ve spiraled lately, the Padres’ offense has been … fine. Their pitching has let them down in a major way, due to injuries and underperformance. But their offense has been solid lately.
So a showing like this one was especially disappointing, considering the Padres pitching staff turned in a mostly solid effort.
“When things are going like this -- when you’re in a losing streak like this -- that’s what happens,” said Gavin Sheets, who reached base twice on Saturday. “You feel like when you hit, you don’t pitch. When you throw the ball really well, you don’t hit. That’s a frustrating thing.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was at his best for the Dodgers. No doubt, he’s one of the toughest pitchers in baseball. But the Padres put runners on the corners in the top of the first inning and came up empty-handed. They hardly even threatened after that.
“We’ve been battling pretty hard offensively and doing a little bit better,” Stammen said. “Today, not the case. [Yamamoto] kind of shoved it against us. It’s one of those days. It sucks that it’s in this timeframe where we’re struggling as a team.
“But we’ve got to pick up the pieces and bounce back tomorrow.”
Canning making progress
Griffin Canning’s Padres tenure is off to a rough start. He entered Saturday’s outing with an ERA north of 7. He largely hasn’t lived up to the team’s expectations for him. But these past two outings offer at least some reason for optimism.
The Padres used Wandy Peralta as an opener on Saturday, and he pitched a scoreless first inning. Canning followed with four innings of one-run ball, striking out four while allowing just two hits. He was lifted entering the sixth inning in a one-run game.
“It was one to build off of,” Canning said. “I executed a lot of pitches, had a good pitch mix, just on the same page with [catcher Luis Campusano] back there.”
Canning almost certainly could’ve pitched longer. But the game situation called for Stammen to go to his bullpen. Plus, the Padres will happily take what they got from Canning on Saturday -- considering the injuries and the inconsistency they’re dealing with in the starting rotation.
The Padres can’t afford to squander it when they get a night like this one on the mound. Lately, however, that’s just how it’s gone.
“It’s not blending together,” Tatis said. “Canning had a great game today. We could not back him up. It’s just tough.”