The San Diego Padres did hit homers last night, but they only scored three runs as they now have a losing streak.
The San Diego Padres played home run derby with the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of their three-game series, but they wound up losing, 4-3, as the Phillies built up a four-run lead the Padres couldn’t overcome.
Nearly all the runs in this game scored via the long ball, but it was the one that didn’t that wound up being the winning run. The Phillies scored early and often, tallying single runs in the first and second innings via solo homers from Bryce Harper, then J.T. Realmuto off San Diego starter Randy Vasquez to make it 2-0.
The Phillies doubled their lead in the third, starting with yet another solo homer from Trea Turner. The fourth run scored after Harper walked, Brandon Marsh singled and Alec Bohm drove home Harper with another single to make it 4-0.
The Padres cut that lead in half in the fourth when Gavin Sheets singled and Manny Machado drove home Sheets with a two-run homer, but that was all San Diego was able to do until the eighth, when a solo shot from Ramon Laureano off reliever Brad Keller made it a one-run game at 4-3.
But San Diego couldn’t solve closer Jhoan Duran for a second straight game, and as a result the Padres now have a three-game losing streak going into the series finale.
It was a tough start for Vasquez, who’s been pitching well so far this season, but he couldn’t stay away from the gopher ball in this start. He wound up giving up eight hits in 5-2/3 innings, and he struck out just three, which is an unusually low total for him. Three Padres relievers pitched well to give San Diego a chance, with Bradgley Rodriguez, Wandy Peralta and Adrian Morejon all contributing scoreless efforts.
The winner was Aaron Nola, who gave up just three hits to a Padres lineup that’s struggled to generate offense all year, and while the homers helped, scoring three runs overall isn’t going to win many games. Orion Kerkering picked up Nola with a scoreless inning, and Duran got his 11th save of the season.
The Padres have now fallen to 3.5 games behind the Dodgers, and they’re just a game ahead of the surging Arizona Diamondbacks, who have won four straight. Walker Buehler will take the mound against Christopher Sanchez today to try and right the ship and break the brief losing streak.
