Good morning,

The Padres had last night’s game won twice. And that was after they could have taken a lead three times with just a hit and two other times with just a fly ball.

They lost.

“We’ve just got to make it happen,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “It didn’t happen.”

That was Tatis’ response to a question about whether he felt during the game the Padres were on the verge of winning multiple times.

“I really wasn’t anticipating (anything),” he continued. “We’ve got to execute.”

Almost nothing can be taken for granted in this game, especially not that the Padres will get a big hit.

That is said without the least bit of sarcasm. That is said as a matter of fact.

The Padres had 12 hits last night, more than in any of their previous 30 games. But just three of those hits came in 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They made empty out after empty out. When they advanced a runner with a productive out, they followed that with an empty out. They made Reds manager Terry Francona’s maneuvers seem brilliant. All 11 Padres batters who went to the plate with a runner in scoring position failed at least once to move that runner.

It isn’t often a team has 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position and loses. Teams that have had at least that many at-bats with runners in scoring position are 14-3 this season.

The Padres were the first to get fewer than four hits. The only other teams to lose were the Royals (5-for-22) and Angels (4-for-20).

You can read Jeff Sanders’ game story (here) for the particulars of a 5-3 loss to the Reds in 11 innings that is arguably the most disappointing game the Padres have played this season.

“Multiple opportunities where we could have won — definitely, for sure,” manager Craig Stammen said. “We didn’t get the job done. They’re sitting in the other dugout trying to get us out in that same situation, and hoping and praying that they can get it out. And tonight they executed. We didn’t.”

The Reds were just 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They scored just one run after loading the bases with no outs in the third inning and didn’t score after getting a runner to third with one out in the eighth. But the Reds got the big hit they needed in the end. And the Padres batted last all night and had the chance to win far too often to end up losing.

The Padres had a runner in scoring position they failed to bring home in eight different innings, including with the game tied in the eighth, ninth and 10th.

If you missed it or just want to be sure you saw what you saw, here is a detailed list of the failures:

Almost as bad as anything, it is only worth playing for nearly four hours if you win.

“Obviously you want this more,” Tatis said. “It’s a long game. You want to go home with a ‘W.’”

A loss makes it feel like the game lasted seven hours and the next game is coming in a matter of minutes.

Truth is, most of the Padres were only going to be away from the ballpark for about 10 or 11 hours before today’s series finale. According to Gavin Sheets, that was more than enough time for the most essential thing they needed to do.

“It’s a tough one to lose,” he said. “But it’s got to be the 30-minute rule. We’ve got to flush it and be back here, ready to play at one o’clock and win a series. This is a really big series. If we can come in (today) and bounce back, that shows a lot from this team. I expect us to do so.”

Coming through — and not

Manny Machado’s night was an appropriate representation of how it went for the Padres.

His single in the third inning tied the game 2-2. And he led off the eighth with a double before ending up stranded at third base through no fault of his own.

He also popped out to end the fifth inning with a runner on third base and, most egregiously, struck out in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and one out.

Machado is batting .171, last among 161 qualifying hitters and 108 points below his career mark heading into this season.

It can’t be surprising, then, that he is faring far worse than his career norm with runners in scoring position. His .167 mark in that circumstance is down 142 points from his average coming into 2026.

Here is a look at Machado’s “clutch” numbers this season and for his career.

Stammen was asked about Machado’s struggles in big moments.

“I’ll put Manny in those situations tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, the day after that, the rest of the season,” Stammen said. “I trust him more — I trust all of our guys, but I would put him in that situation over many, many, many others. And I’m sure other managers would do the same thing on their team. But for me, personally, nobody I’d rather have at the plate.”

Started OK

Until the failures to execute when it mattered most reached epic proportions, it was going to feel weird pinning this one on the offense.

The Padres did as well against Reds starter Chase Burns as any team had in nearly two months.

Even after so many opportunities were left on the field while facing one of the major leagues’ worst collection of relief pitchers, it should be pointed out that the Padres finally had a measure of success against one of the nastiest starting pitchers in the game.

A single by Tatis, triple by Jackson Merrill and single by Machado in succession scored two runs off Burns in the third inning.

When Will Wagner walked and Samad Tayor singled with one out in the sixth, that was it for Burns.

The right-hander had gone at least six innings in eight of his 12 starts this season. He had allowed just one run in six of those games. And the only time he allowed more than two runs in a game this year was in his third start, on April 10.

Burns entered the game with a 2.05 ERA, fourth-best in the major leagues. He was allowing opponents a .190 batting average and getting misses on 32% of the swings taken against him. Opponents were chasing 33% of his pitches outside the zone.

The Padres had six hits, missed on 27% of their swings and chased at a 25% rate.

Burns had to throw a season-high 105 pitches to get through 5⅓ innings.

The Padres went down on six pitches in the first inning and then had traffic against him in four of the next five innings.

It was difficult to even be too critical of how they failed to score more than two runs against him, not only because almost no one had but because he entered the game yielding a .122 batting average with runners on base and a .079 average with runners in scoring position.

Burns began the night with a Stuff+ rating of 112 this season, eighth best among qualifying starting pitchers. The Padres had faced four of the pitchers rated ahead of him and had scored a total of two runs over 32 innings in five games.

Now, to not score in five of six innings against six members of the bullpen with the second-worst ERA in the major leagues was not so excusable.

And this afternoon, there will be no excuse available.

Reds starter Brady Singer brings a 5.89 ERA into today’s game.

Where Burns has pitched into the sixth inning in each of his past 12 starts and has not allowed more than two runs in his past 10 starts, Singer has allowed at least three runs in five of his past six starts and has pitched into the sixth inning just five times in 12 starts.

Sparky Samad

Tom Krasovic wrote (here) yesterday afternoon about the value of adding Taylor to the roster.

And Taylor went out and continued to keep the fire burning.

He started in left field for the third straight game, was part of a fruitless rally in the second and another in the sixth and extended the game with an RBI single in the 10th. He finished 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. He is 4-for-11 with three walks, a sacrifice bunt and two steals in his four games since being called up a week ago.

“He has been in every play — defense, running the bases right, bunting, getting clutch hits,” Tatis said. “He’s definitely a spark.”

Not their role

This is not how the relievers at the back end of the Padres’ bullpen are supposed to be used.

But it is just about the only way they can be used lately.

Adrian Morejón, Jason Adam and Mason Miller all pitched last night and succeeded in keeping the game tied.

Morejón has not pitched with a lead in any of his past five appearances. Adam has pitched with a lead in two of his past six appearances. Miller has pitched with a lead in two of his past four appearances.

(Before going on the injured list this week, Jeremiah Estrada had pitched in five straight games that were tied or in which the Padres were trailing.)

Adam, Morejón and Miller have all pitched in the past two games. Adam and Morejón have worked three of the past four days. Miller has worked four of the past five.

It would be somewhat surprising if any of the three is available today. But the Padres are off tomorrow, and they are desperate for a victory.

LFG

The Padres used six relievers in all last night.

They had to use four just to get through nine innings.

Padres starter Lucas Giolito was the reason for that, as he walked five batters en route to throwing 85 pitches while making it through four innings.

It was the second straight start in which he lasted four innings, and he went just 2⅔ innings in the start before that.

“It’s more of the same,” he said after allowing two runs (one earned) last night. “It’s not good. I’m not gonna be able to sleep tonight knowing how bad I’m cooking our bullpen. I’ve always prided myself on the ability to compete and go deep into games, but the lack of strike throwing is making that impossible right now. I’ve just got to keep working and be able to find the zone in those moments.”Giolito has walked 18 batters and surrendered 18 hits in 20⅔ innings. He has 4.35 ERA through five starts, none of which has lasted more than five innings.

“It’s got to be better,” he said. “Got to be able to limit damage, eliminate the free passes and work deeper into these games to help our guys out. I mean, they’re taking on a big load right now.”

Giolito, who has made 209 starts in 10 MLB seasons, had a 5.27 ERA after five starts for the Red Sox last season. But he had gone at least six innings in three of those games.

As he did after his previous two starts, he declined last night to give credence to the idea he is still behind after not signing with the Padres until April 22 and making his season debut May 17.

“I think it’s at the point now where I should be better,” he said. “The days of like, ‘Oh, well, he didn’t have a spring training or whatever.’ That’s far behind us now. It’s time to perform and do well for this club. So that’s gonna be my goal — clean this mess up that I’ve been creating and do better.”

(Giolitio’s middle name, by the way, is Frost. So, he is LFG.)

Thievery

The Reds stole seven bases last night.

It was the second time this season they have done so but the first time the Padres have allowed that many steals in a game since 2009.

The most troubling thing for the Padres was that on just one of the steals did catcher Freddy Fermin have even the slightest chance to get the runner. These were thefts achieved by getting big leads against the Padres pitcher.

“They did a good job timing up our pitchers on kind of their rhythm to the plate and then basically just taking a chance on us not picking off in those situations,” Stammen said. “Teams have started this new way of stealing bases, where they kind of bolt off the base, hop, hop, hop and then go. We’ve done a solid job this year of combating that. Tonight it kind of cost us a little bit.”

The Reds only turned one of the steals into a run. But the steals did make for a lot of stressful moments.

Up and going

Wagner reached base half as many times yesterday in his first major league game of 2026 as he did in 15 games for the Padres in ’25.

Being in the lineup helped.

He served as the designated hitter yesterday.

Last season, all 17 of his plate appearances after he was acquired at the trade deadline and called up in late August came in games in which he pinch-hit or entered as a defensive replacement. He went to the plate more than once in just one game and finished the season 2-for-15 with two walks.

“It is a little different from last year,” he said yesterday afternoon. “Last year I was here, and I was just kind of on the bench and just waiting for a pinch hit opportunity. This year they throw me right in there. So it’s nice to be in there. Hopefully, I can contribute to the team.”

Wagner, who was shut down early in spring training with an oblique strain and began the season on the injured list, went 1-for-2 with a walk last night.

You can read in Jeff Sanders’ game preview (here) from yesterday afternoon about Xander Bogaerts going on the paternity list and Wagner being recalled to take his roster spot. Bogaerts is expected back for the start of the upcoming road trip Friday in Baltimore.

Tidbits

Tatis was 4-for-6 last night and is batting .302/.364/.374 over his past 31 games. He is batting .397/.433/.508  over his past 15 games. Last night was his 10th career four-hit game and first since June 15, 2025.
Tatis was caught stealing for the eighth time in 23 attempts. That is tied for the second-most times being caught in the major leagues.
The Padres lost for the first time in three extra-inning games.
It turns out that last night was the Padres’ first time in 10 games getting double-digit hits. They had a hit taken away from their total in Monday’s game by MLB after it reviewed Taylor’s bunt in the seventh inning. The initial ruling of a hit was changed to a sacrifice and fielder’s choice because first baseman Sal Stewart intended to throw home. That left the Padres with nine hits in the game.
Sung-Mun Song started at shortstop and was 1-for-5 last night. He singled in the ninth inning on a 96 mph fastball, his third hit this season on a pitch of 95 mph or faster. This one was the first to get out of the infield, though it first ricocheted off pitcher Tony Santillan before bouncing into right field. Song is batting .194 (7-for-36).
A successful Fermin ABS challenge ended a strikeout for the 12th  time this season. That is the fifth-most strikeouts gained by an overturned challenge among all MLB catchers.
Fermin tied a career high by starting a fourth consecutive game behind the plate for the first time this season. He started that many in a row three times for the Padres and once for the Royals last season. He also did so for the Royals once in 2023. Fermin, who was 5-for-9 with three home runs and a double in the previous three games, went 0-for-5 last night.
Sheets went 0-for-5 and struck out three times last night. He is 2-for-32 with 13 strikeouts over his past nine games. This skid follows a 15-game stretch in which he batted .370 (17-for-46) and had a .500 on-base percentage.
David Morgan got five outs last night and has worked 3⅔ scoreless innings in his two appearances since being recalled Friday.
Morejón stranded two runners after entering the game in relief of Morgan with two outs in the sixth and then worked a scoreless seventh. It was the 11th time Morejón has recorded more than three outs in a game this season. He has a 1.50 ERA (three earned runs, 18 innings) in those outings. His ERA is 7.16 (13 earned runs, 16⅓ innings) in his 20 appearances of one inning or less.

All right, that’s it for me. Early game today (1:10 p.m. PT) and then a flight to Baltimore.

Talk to you tomorrow.