Oracle Park – San Francisco, CA

As the Padres depart the Bay Area for a quick layover in America’s Dairy Land to face the Milwaukee Brewers, Manny Machado’s 350th career home run wasn’t enough, as the Friars dropped the final game of four in a series split against the Giants 3-2.

Trailing the Dodgers by one game in the NL West and leading the Giants by two, the Padres entered the series finale at Oracle Park with the potential to take three out of four games. It was also a chance to stay within striking range of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who the Friars will face next week after a three-game stop in Milwaukee to face off against the Brewers.

Instead, it was a relatively quiet offense, with few mistakes and a few Giants hits that ultimately cost them the game.

With a newly ‘stached Dylan Cease taking the mound for the San Diego Padres, he came off his last appearance on May 31, where he went 4 2/3 innings, struck out seven, and allowed three runs in a 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In each of the first three innings, Cease had allowed a walk to allow runners to get on base: one to a single by Dominic Smith, two to Ramos, and one to Lee.

Despite escaping a potentially dangerous situation in the first inning when Jung-Hoo Lee hit a 404-foot ground-rule double to center field, sending Ramos back to third base on a play he had already crossed home plate for, Cease’s luck would soon run out. After allowing back-to-back walks to Ramos and Lee to start the bottom of the third, a single by Chapman and a double by Smith gave the Giants a lead that would hold for the rest of the game.

Facing Robbie Ray and the Giants, the Padres’ offense was relatively unseen outside of Manny Machado’s 391-foot two-run homer to left field, which came after an Arraez infield single in the third inning that knicked Robbie Ray in the leg as he beat out a throw to first by Fitzgerald.

The home run, which adds to Machado’s case for a Hall of Fame Career, was all the Padres could muster as the bats were silenced by Ray and the Giants’ Defense.

Built different. pic.twitter.com/Xe0igeQJDB

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 5, 2025

In a combination of powerful contact that couldn’t land in the right spots in the field as well as a few stellar plays (looking at you, Tyler Fitzgerald), the Padres would remain hitless for 10 consecutive at-bats until a Jose Iglesias miscue would eventually break up the “hitless” streak. Despite being credited for a single, Iglesias was thrown out on a daring attempt to stretch a single to a double, being thrown out by Lee as he tried to outmaneuver the tag by running through the base.

There was a scary moment in the bottom of the 5th inning when a 104mph line drive off the bat of Matt Chapman came back and struck Cease’s right forearm/elbow. Immediately shaking off his glove and walking off the mound, the Friar faithful held their collective breath as an audible “ooh” by Oracle Park patrons sounded during a replay showing what had just happened on the field. After taking a few practice pitches with trainer and Shildt in view, Cease closed out the 5th with an 83-mph knuckle-change against Adames, ending his night with 5IP, 7K, 3 ER, and 3 BB.

#Padres Dylan Cease just took 104 mph off his hand/wrist. He stayed in and finished the inning. pic.twitter.com/lqcQmNVPQy

— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) June 5, 2025

In the 6th Inning, David Morgan would take over as he navigated through a leadoff single by Smith to retire the next three batters.  Morgan also tossed a scoreless 7th inning. Yuki would follow suit in the 8th to eventually quell a Giants lineup that started rowdy early and eventually settled down,

With Camilo Doval entering the ninth to shut the door on the Padres, the Friars put up a last-ditch effort, with Machado and Sheets singling to get on base. Despite a wild pitch to help advance the runners 90 feet, the Padres could not capitalize as Jake Cronenworth struck out to end the game.

After the game, attention focused on the health of Luis Arraez, who left the game early with a knee injury, which occurred shortly after he made a play in the 4th inning. When prompted, Padres skipper Mike Shildt shared cautious optimism that he would be day-to-day as they plan to re-evaluate him in 24 hours. This news comes on the heels of an announcement that Xander Bogaerts is on the IL day-to-day for a shoulder injury. While Arraez is out, Cronenworth or Sheets could possibly slide into first base while he recovers.

As the Padres head to Milwaukee, the team has another chance to shake off the minor mistakes of today and focus on getting themselves in a prime position ahead of an important homecoming series against the Dodgers next week. With the first game in a three-game series starting Friday, Randy Vásquez and the Brown and Gold take on Chad Patrick and the Brew Crew.

Christian Perez

Christian Perez is a musician, sports fan, and lover of all things creative. Growing up in a Padres household watching legends such as Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, and Ken Caminiti, Christian has been a Padres fan longer than he has been able to walk. Outside of contributing content to the East Village Times, Christian performs music under Lost Dakota as well as sans.halo. You can catch him at a local venue watching a show or at Petco downing a ballpark hotdog.