Good morning,
Every loss feels like a missed opportunity at this point. Because it is.
The Padres could have moved within a game of a playoff spot last night and instead fell two games back.
But a 4-1 loss to the Giants, which ended a winning streak at five games, did not change the Padres’ course heading into the trade deadline.
You can read Jeff Sanders’ game story (here) about how the defeat unfolded and what the Padres had to say after having their first dud in a while.
Starting pitcher JP Sears allowed three runs in the first two innings.
You would have hoped he did better against a Giants lineup that wasn’t all that good before it was weakened further by injuries. But hey, we knew the starting pitching was a problem the Padres are working to fix.
A part of the solution might have been the guy who was effectively wild against them last night, allowing one run in six innings.
Padres hitters were stymied last night by left-hander Robbie Ray, who had a 1.04 ERA over his previous seven starts and almost certainly pitched his final game for the Giants last night before being traded. (Have the Padres shown interest in Ray? That’s the word. Do they have the payroll flexibility to add the $7.4 million remaining on his 2026 salary? That would take some serious gymnastics.)
You would have liked the Padres to turn a few more of the favorable counts they had against Ray into hits or walks.
“We (did) not put it together as a whole group today,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “But end of the day, we just regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”
Yeah. Tonight is big. That is how it goes when a team has piddled away so much of the season. The Padres cannot let this become a string of losses, as has happened too often since late May.
They have to put enough together tonight against Carson Whisenhunt, a rookie with a 4.85 ERA in eight career starts. A second dud in a row is not advisable or even acceptable now.
Yesterday was a productive day off for the Diamondbacks and Phillies, who gained a half-game on every team with a chance to catch them. The Pirates, Marlins, Nationals and Cardinals all lost too, so the Padres did not have anyone behind them get closer.
Getting there
Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta both threw the equivalent of two innings against hitters on Wednesday in Arizona and then returned to San Diego where they are sheduled to throw a bullpen over the weekend.
The next step is likely a rehab start on Tuesday.
If that is what happens, one or both could be on the mound in a game for the Padres sometimes around Aug. 19 to 22.
Such a timeline is dependent on there being no setbacks.
“They’re literally a day-to-day thing,” Craig Stammen said.
That is the manager prudently expressing caution. However, their progress over the past couple weeks, as they have ramped up to throwing all (or almost all) of their pitches and reaching into the 90s with their fastballs, has been highly encouraging to the Padres.
While they are expected to add at least one starting pitcher by Monday, the Padres believe their most likely path to the postseason would be one taken with one or both of the veterans in their starting rotation.
Musgrove and Pivetta were expected to be anchors in the rotation this season, but Musgrove was shut down in spring training and Pivetta departed during his fourth start.
Musgrove has not pitched since having Tommy John surgery in October 2024, but he was sidelined by discomfort stemming from the lack of cartilage in his elbow.
Pivetta has what the Padres are calling an elbow flexor strain, which is the same injury that caused him to miss time in 2024 while he was with the Red Sox. That issue prompted the inclusion of a clause in his contract, which stipulates that if he spends 130 consecutive days on the injured list, his $14 million option for 2027 becomes a team option. That effectively allows the Padres to void the contract by not exercising the option. Pivetta needs to return by Aug. 22 to beat the 130-day mark.
Doing his part
Randy Vásquez replaced Wandy Peralta with one out and runners on second and third base in last night’s fifth inning, allowed one of those runners to score on a sacrifice fly and went on to finish the game.
The 4⅔ scoreless innings comprised the longest relief outing of his career and made it so every other pitcher could rest.
That is especially important since yesterday was the middle of three straight games in which the Padres are employing their all-staff stratagem.
Said Stammen: “Hopefully, he goes home and thinks, ‘Yeah, I pitched great. I helped our team win the next two or three games.”
All hands, for now
Padres pitchers who were yanked from their customary roles and are working as part of the Padres’ 11-man bullpen have publicly proclaimed their willingness to do whatever is asked. And the way they have pitched recently indicates they have bought into the all-staff approach.
“They want to win, and they want to play in the playoffs, and they want to be able to pitch in the playoffs,” Stammen said. “… When we had a conversation with them, we tried to say, ‘You guys are the most important piece to us trying to make it to the playoffs.’ I think they’ve embraced that, they believed it, and they’ve gone out and proved that they can help this team win some games, get on a hot streak and, hopefully, make the playoffs.”
That might be how they are remembered.
Thing is, though, a number of them will not be around if the Padres make the postseason.
If every pitcher the Padres expect to return from the injured list does so, that would be 18 pitchers for 13 spots. And that is before any trade deadline additions.
The expectation will be for Musgrove and Pivetta to return as starters, capable of going five or more innings. Starter Lucas Giolito is expected to be ready to return this month as well.
Reliever David Morgan has begun pitching again against minor leaguers in Arizona and could be good to go in a couple weeks. Jason Adam is expected back by September.
The staff could be thinned by moving bullpen pieces at the deadline. Multiple people, in the organization and elsewhere around the league, see that as likely.
He did it again
Sears’ night might have been significantly worse if he didn’t have a right fielder with two Platinum Gloves playing behind him.
With two on in the first inning, Rafael Devers hit a high fly ball toward right-center field that Tatis ran 91 feet and leaped well above the wall to take away a home run, leaving Devers with a sacrifice fly.
“Just another routine play,” Tatis said with a grin.
The special part about this one was the ground Tatis covered. But last night’s robbery was not as spectacularly difficult as the one Tatis perpetrated against Devers last August (video here) with Sears on the mound.
FERNANDO TATIS JR. HOME RUN ROBBERY 😱 pic.twitter.com/hMEdp0sokf
— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2026
Tidbits
Manny Machado played in his 2,000th game last night. He is just the 255th major leaguer to reach that milestone. Just five active players have played in more games.
Mahado was 0-for-4 last night, ending his on-base streak at 19 games. He batted .338 with a 412 on-base percentage during the streak.
Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single in the second inning was his 1,900th career hit. That ranks 352nd all-time.
Luis Rengifo had two of the Padres’ six hits. His double in the sixth inning was his first hit in four games with the Padres at Petco Park. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk last night and is batting .385 (15-for-39) and getting on base at a .455 clip in 12 games with the Padres.
Ty France was hit by a pitch for a second consecutive day and for the team-leading 10th time this season. France, who has been hit by more pitches (136) than anyone in the major leagues since 2019, was hit just twice in his first 57 games this season before being hit eight times in his past 26 games.
Peralta has allowed at least a run in five of his past six appearances (eight runs, 5⅓ innings). He allowed a run in six of his his first 42 appearances (12 runs, 49⅓ innings).
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.