Following a 5-1 loss in the series opener, the Padres’ offense continues to look for their past form in a 5-2 loss.

The Padres sent Randy Vasquez to the mound for his Padres debut, and he showed flashes of his potential, striking out three with only one walk in five innings. However, he did struggle with command early on, and his night ended with 97 pitches thrown, of which 59 were strikes.

The Blue Jays struck first on another first inning home run by a former NL West batter, this time it was Daulton Varsho with a three-run home run. The fourth run came across in the second on a wild pitch from Vasquez, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa from third.

The Padres’ offense was stifled by Jose Berrios, who was able to escape a two-on, two-out jam with a strikeout of Jurickson Profar on a questionable strike three call by home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus. This call got Profar and Padres manager Mike Shildt ejected in the bottom of the first. Berrios was further able to escape a bases-loaded two-out jam in the fifth, getting a pop-up from Manny Machado to end the threat.

After Vasquez exited the game, Jhony Brito tossed three scoreless innings of relief in only 24 pitches, keeping the game within reach. Brito has shown flashes to be a solid long reliever for the Padres, and with him stepping into the long relief role after Pedro Avila was designated for assignment and subsequently traded last week, he looks to be finding a more consistent role on the San Diego pitching staff.

San Diego was able to break through against the Toronto bullpen, where with second and third, Xander Bogaerts grounded out to drive in a run off Genesis Cabrera. The Padres got another run in the eighth off Erik Swanson, with Ha-Seong Kim driving in Jose Azocar on an RBI single. Luis Campusano smoked a two-out double into left field to put the tying run in scoring position, but Eguy Rosario would ground out to end the frame.

Toronto got that run back in the ninth, with a pinch-hit single from Ernie Clement bringing in Varsho against Yuki Matsui. Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano would then retire the top of the Padres’ order in the bottom of the ninth to seal a 5-2 win for the Jays.

The Padres look to get some momentum on Sunday with Joe Musgrove on the mound against Chris Bassitt. The first pitch is at 1:10 pm.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.