Padres Take A Step Back With Tough 4-1 Loss To Giants

The San Diego Padres saw their five-game winning streak snapped last night, as the San Francisco Giants used a strong start from Robbie Ray to get a 4-1 win in the opening game of their four-game series. 

The Giants broke on top early with a run in the first and two in the second off starter JP Sears. The first run came via a sacrifice fly from Rafael Devers, and a two-run homer by Daniel Susac gave San Francisco a quick 3-0 lead. 

The Padres got one back in the third on an RBI single by Xander Bogaerts after Ty France was hit by a pitch and Jackson Merrill singled him to second. That made it 3-1, but that was all the Padres could manage against Ray and a trio of San Francisco relievers. 

The Giants padded their lead with a run in the fifth of reliever Wandy Peralta, with Susac doing the damage again with a sacrifice fly. The Padres managed just one extra base hit on the evening, a double by Luis Rengifo. 

The loss was disappointing, but no winning streak lasts forever, as manager Craig Stammen noted after the game in a piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. 

“It was a good stretch,” said Stammen. “We’ve been playing good baseball. We’re not going to win every game the rest of the year. So, you’ve got to keep it in perspective, get back at it tomorrow.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. had a slightly different take on things, as the Padres simply couldn’t get anything done against Ray.

“It just kind of got away from us a little bit offensively,” said Tatis. “We could not put it together as a whole group today. One of those days. You just regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”

Stammen also noted the contributions of Randy Vasquez, who stepped in and gave the Padres 4-2/3 innings of scoreless relief, starting in the fifth inning once the damage. It was an important contribution given the Padres “pitching by committee” approach, which has a tendency to wear down the middle relievers.

The spotlight now turns to the trade deadline, with the Padre now two games out in the wild-card race and in desperate need of pitching reinforcements. Bradgley Rodriguez will get the nod as the opener tonight in the second game of the series, with Carson Rodriguez on the mound for San Francisco.