Padres offense goes quiet again in 4-2 loss to Phillies
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Game three of the four-game set between the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies started off as a pitcher’s duel as Blake Snell and Zach Eflin entered the fifth inning with shutouts.
But that’s when things unraveled for both pitchers. J.T. Realmuto smacked a home run — his second of the series — and two more runs came across, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
But, the bottom half of the inning worked out well for the Padres, and Realmuto’s counterpart, Jorge Alfaro, continued his impressive hitting with a two-run double that got the Petco Park crowd back into the game.
Another day, another Jorge RBI 💪#TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/EhEwDxlQB5
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 26, 2022
The Phillies added another run in the sixth inning as Alec Bohm drove in Realmuto. One batter later, manager Bob Melvin took the ball from Snell’s hand, ending his evening with 5.2 innings pitched and four runs on six hits. Overall, it was encouraging to see Snell get to the sixth inning, something he has only done three times this season entering Saturday’s game. Melvin was pretty impressed with Snell’s outing after the game as well.
“It looked like he was rolling, just nicked him up a little bit in the fifth … I think he’s really close because today’s stuff is as good as we’ve seen all year.”
The Phillies played most of the game without superstar Bryce Harper after Snell hit him in the hand, causing Harper to leave the game.
Scary sight in San Diego. Bryce Harper had to leave the game after taking a pitch off his hand. pic.twitter.com/uDeTOiOqjT
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 26, 2022
The nightmare scenario unfolded for the Phillies, and reports came out that Harper has a fractured thumb and is headed to the IL.
For the Padres, the fifth inning was all the offense. After that, the bats fell quiet. How quiet? Well, the Padres went hitless in the last four innings of play.
The four Phillies’ relievers combined to throw four hitless innings, striking out four batters — and Andrew Bellatti struck out the side in the sixth inning.
The absence of Manny Machado is evident, and Trent Grisham also was scratched before the game with shoulder tightness, so another IL move could be in the works for San Diego — although Melvin didn’t seem too concerned about it.
Despite that, the Padres are hanging around in the National League West thanks to the Atlanta Braves defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
The Padres will try to end the four-game series with a split on Sunday afternoon. Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.06 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies and ace Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.17 ERA) will hop on the rubber for San Diego with first pitch at 1:10 PST.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.
Too many guys in our starting lineup that would not be starters elsewhere. You can’t expect your AAA team to beat good teams consistently. We’re where we are because of our starting pitching. When it or our relievers go, so does our chance of winning.