The Arizona Diamondbacks fell to 60-54 on the year as they dropped game two to the San Diego Padres, 9-4, on Tuesday night.

Arizona's newest ace, Eduardo Rodriguez, was absolutely picked apart in this game. The Padres exposed him, tallying 11 hits in just 5.2 innings.

Rodriguez allowed seven runs, but only five of those were earned. Regardless, he was pulled after 102 pitches, but an early 6-0 deficit in the first two innings was far too much to overcome.

The D-backs plated four runs in the seventh, but by that point it was too little too late. In the end, they have dropped two of their last three, but still have another pair of games against the Padres to decide who will walk away with this series victory.

While yes, a pair of runs he allowed were unearned, his ERA still jumped from 2.48 to 2.71. There's nothing wrong with a 2.71 ERA, and it's far better than most of the other starters in this rotation, but it's worth noting his ERA was as low as 2.21 back on Monday, June 29.

More importantly, this is the second time he's allowed five earned runs in his last four appearances. Granted, he only allowed two earned runs in 14 innings from July 24-29; it's still a bit odd seeing him struggle this much, especially since he seemed to be so locked in during his last two starts.

The Padres got things started with a pair of doubles in their first three at-bats. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado traded places, and then a pair of singles turned this into a 3-0 game in the first inning.

Rodriguez had a chance to process the early deficit, but things got worse before they got better. When he came back out for the second inning, he ended up allowing four singles and a pair of fielder's choices. Once he recorded his sixth out, Arizona faced a steep six-run deficit.

Everyone knows the Padres got much better at the trade deadline, but it's not like that had a direct correlation to Rodriguez's bad start. Arizona beat them the night prior, but things just didn't go according to plan in game two.

Remember, Rodriguez threw an eight-inning gem prior to this, one that saw him allow just five hits in eight innings. He only needed to throw 105 pitches to record 24 outs against the Pittsburgh Pirates, so it's odd to see such a 180 from that performance to his latest.