Padres' Buehler Needs Bounce-Back Outing Against Blue Jays

The San Diego Padres are looking to avoid a series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays after dropping the opener 5-3 on Friday.

The Padres took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ ninth home run of the season, a 401-foot blast to left center, but couldn’t scratch across another run until the ninth inning.

Left-hander JP Sears held Toronto scoreless through three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth, allowing an RBI double to catcher Alejandro Kirk before escaping a jam with runners on second and third.

The Blue Jays put up a crooked number in the fifth, as first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an RBI infield single which then led to a three-run homer off the bat of third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, his 22nd of his rookie campaign.

Sears was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs of the five runs on six hits and one walk while striking out three over 4.1 innings of work.

Right-hander Shane Bieber made his fourth start of the season and tossed 4.2 innings, allowing the two runs on six hits and three walks while fanning four. Reliever Mason Fluharty earned the win after recording just one out, a punchout to end the fifth.

Center fielder Jackson Merrill, who has been part of the struggling core for San Diego, delivered an RBI single off of one of the best closers in baseball, but Louis Varland locked down the save with traffic on the bases.

It’s been a rough second half to the first half for the Padres after being one of the best teams through April and into May, so winning the final series going into the All-Star break would be huge.

Taking the last two games to get back to .500 starts with a win on Saturday, and San Diego will turn to right-hander Walker Buehler to face rookie righty Trey Yesavage.

Buehler was one of the most reliable starters for the Padres up until his last two starts. He became the first pitcher this season to allow 16 runs over a two-start span, per Talkin’ Baseball. He is 5-5 with a 5.07 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 80 strikeouts to 31 walks through 18 starts (87 innings).

Yesavage was impressive in his short Major League stint in 2025 and has followed it up with a 4-4 record, 3.31 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 68 strikeouts to 32 walks through 13 starts (73.1 innings) this year. He last worked against the Seattle Mariners and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks while fanning seven.

First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.