The San Diego Padres entered the middle game of their three-game set against the Colorado Rockies with a share of the lead in the National League Western Division. The Padres were looking to win the second game to maintain their position without having to see what the Los Angeles Dodgers did in their game against the San Francisco Giants, but thanks to an ugly outing from Walker Buehler they were unable to do so. San Diego dropped the middle game to Colorado 8-3 and will try to win the series in the final game today at 12:10 p.m.
Buehler has been competing with German Marquez and Matt Waldron, who was recently recalled from Triple-A, to maintain his place in the back of the Padres’ rotation. That competition got a little tighter on Wednesday when San Diego announced the signing of starter Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. Buehler needed to produce a strong showing against Colorado, but he did anything but that. The right-hander allowed four runs on eight hits over 2.2 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. His ERA sits at 5.75 on the season. The eight hits allowed by Buehler were part of 15 hits the Rockies had on the night against Padres pitching.
San Diego looked to be getting off to a good start against Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano with Jackson Merrill hitting a one-out single to score Ramon Laureano in the top of the first inning. However, the Padres did not score another run until the top of the seventh inning when Luis Campusano hit a solo home run to left field. San Diego tacked on a final run in the top of the ninth inning after Campusano doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on an error. Jake Cronenworth grounded out to bring Campusano home to make the final score, 8-3. Campy was the bright spot on offense for the Padres, finishing his night 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.