After a 10-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday, the San Diego Padres hoped that their offense would carry over against the Chicago Cubs. Instead, they produced another 2-1 loss. It was a sight all too familiar for the Friar Faithful as San Diego wasted another opportunity to nab a win.

Michael Wacha was announced as May’s National League pitcher of the month before the game. He showed flashes of what had made him so dominant, but he was undone by a lack of control. Wacha made it through just 4.2 innings, needing 102 pitches to do so. He only allowed three hits and two runs, but he walked five Cubs. The right-hander did strike out eight hitters, but the five walks inflated his pitch count to the point where he couldn’t get through five innings. “At the end of the day, he only gives up two; the bullpen does a great job,” said Bob Melvin.

Chicago opened the scoring in the third inning when back-to-back singles from Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson put runners on the corners with just one out. Wacha induced a ground ball off the bat of Ian Happ, but Happ just beat Ha-Seong Kim’s throw to first to avoid the potentially inning-ending double play. Swanson did more damage again in the fifth when he sent a line drive into the first row of the left-field seats. That doubled Chicago’s advantage, as Jameson Taillon shut down the Padres over 5.1 innings.

The Padres did chase Taillon after they scraped their first run across in the sixth. Rougned Odor led off the inning with a double before scoring on Xander Bogaerts’ infield single. That halved the deficit, leaving the two bullpens to duel over the final three innings.

Tom Cosgrove was the first Padre out of the bullpen, and he put together 1.1 perfect innings. It was his 11th consecutive scoreless outing to start his MLB career, one shy of the San Diego record. While Steven Wilson and Tim Hill kept Chicago’s bats silent through the eighth inning, Brandon Hughes and Julian Merryweather matched the feat through the seventh.

Odor led off the eighth with a lined shot into right-center field, which Mike Tauchmann misplayed. However, Odor became injured as he rounded first base before limping into second base. Melvin said that it was a “left groin strain” and that Odor “felt like it was going to pop.” He was replaced by Ha-Seong Kim, who filled in at second base for Odor. Merryweather then walked Trent Grisham on just four pitches, which prompted manager David Ross to lift the right-hander.

With the tying run on second, the go-ahead run on first, and the top of San Diego’s order up, it seemed to be a perfect time for the Padres to take the lead. Instead, Bogaerts grounded into a double play before Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out. It was the perfect encapsulation of the season for San Diego. 

Mark Leiter Jr. entered for Chicago, seeking to secure the save for the Cubs. San Diego’s big bats, Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Jake Cronenworth, came up. They all struck out. 

For the third time in the last six games, the Padres’ offense was held under two runs. They managed just four hits, two of which came from Odor, who may not be available for the foreseeable future due to his injury.

Sam Evans

Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.