It was a losing day all around for the Padres. Four of the five teams ahead of them in the race for what certainly seems to be one available playoff spot, won. (The Pirates won and lost, as they had a doubleheader against the Yankees).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/standings_332224.png\")
<\/p>\n
The grinder<\/p>\n
It is stunning how many strikes Michael King can get when he can\u2019t throw the ball where he wants and how good he can be when he is bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a talent to be able to do that \u2014 to not have your best stuff and still give your team a chance to win,\u201d manager Craig Stammen said.<\/p>\n
King walked the first three batters he faced last night, allowing a run on a groundout by the next batter and then didn\u2019t allow a run the rest of his six innings.<\/p>\n
It was not pretty. But it was a beautiful thing to watch if you appreciate someone with the resolve to find a way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did not have much at the beginning,\u201d Stammen said. Walked the first three batters of the game and then just gritted his teeth and gutted one out and gave us six innings. It was a pretty impressive outing, honestly, based on probably what he felt he had. Especially coming out walking the first three guys, it\u2019s never a sign of a good outing. But he goes six innings, one run. It\u2019s pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
King\u2019s greatest talent this season has been an ability to make his best pitches when he has to in the midst of a game when he can\u2019t make his best pitch consistently.<\/p>\n
That is what he did last night.<\/p>\n
He missed up and away on the final two balls to left-handed leadoff batter Drake Baldwin. He missed up and away on all four pitches to Ozzie Albies, a switch-hitter hitting from the left side. He missed everywhere except up and away to Matt Olson, who he walked after getting to a full count.<\/p>\n
By that time, he was experimenting.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust visually was a little different for me,\u201d he said. \u201cHad to set my sights in a different area. I was just missing in the same spot. Made the adjustment and felt pretty good after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basically, he began overcorrecting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like thinking mechanically while I\u2019m out there, and I think that the easiest way to get myself back in the zone is just to change sights,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I felt like I was throwing, like, at the left-handed hitter the whole time just to keep it on the plate and then kept that the whole way through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just like, all right, minimize as best as I possibly can. And in my head, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m not going to throw another armside pitch.\u2019 I\u2019d rather miss in. And then all of a sudden, I started locating way better when I was doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
We have not seen 2024 Michael King very much this season. He would argue we have yet to see that version, because his sinker has been truly working maybe one game and his sweeper and changeup have taken turns failing him.<\/p>\n
Yet, he has a 3.24 ERA (11th in the NL) and is allowing a .212 batting average (sixth). Last night was his 10th quality start (15th).<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, hopefully, he gets on a roll like we\u2019ve seen Michael do,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cBut in the end, the results are pretty darn good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting to roll<\/p>\n
Padres starting pitchers have gone at least five innings while allowing two or fewer runs the past three games.<\/p>\n
King followed Buehler (5\u2154 innings, two runs) and JP Sears (five innings, two runs).<\/p>\n
It is the first time that has happened since April 18 to 21 when Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez allowed two runs in 5\u2154 innings and King threw five scoreless innings against the Angels and V\u00e1squez blanked the Rockies for seven innings.<\/p>\n
The only longer streak for Padres starters was April 6 to 10 when all five pitchers in the rotation went at least five innings and allowed two or fewer runs.<\/p>\n
The Padres are 31-11 when their pitchers meet those thresholds. But their 42 starts that good are tied for 12th fewest in the major leagues.<\/p>\n
Foresight, hindsight<\/p>\n
Rengifo sort of ruined the argument later by homering off Iglesias, but it seemed a peculiar decision when Bogaerts and Cronenworth executed a double steal with two outs in the seventh inning.<\/p>\n
After Merrill had tied the game 1-1 with a homer and Luis Campusano had grounded out, Bogaerts and Cronenworth singled before Sheets flied out.<\/p>\n
That brought up Tatis, whose .406 batting average with runners in scoring position is second best in the major leagues. But on the first pitch to Tatis, Bogaerts and Cronenworth stole.<\/p>\n
That opened up first base, which the Braves promptly awarded Tatis with an intentional walk to bring up Rengifo, who popped out to end the inning.<\/p>\n
When I asked Rengifo if he knew he was going to be batting with the bases loaded as soon as he saw the double steal, Tatis piped in from his neighboring locker, \u201cEveryone knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rengifo agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone knew that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Not everyone.<\/p>\n
Asked about his decision, Bogaerts replied to the suggestion it was going to \u201cobviously\u201d prompt an intentional walk, \u201cYou knew that? I didn\u2019t know. If I knew that, I wouldn\u2019t have done it. Walt Weiss did not give me a heads up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bogaerts said he wanted to go with Sheets up but did not because Sheets bats from the left side.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe throws one away,\u201d Bogaerts said of pitcher Didier Fuentes, \u201cand everyone says, \u2018Oh, great baseball.\u2019 That\u2019s the way this game is. You\u2019ve got to live with the good, live with the bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stammen had earlier confirmed it was Bogaerts\u2019 decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players are on their own on that,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I think we\u2019re always trying to be aggressive on the bags. And who knows, they were probably going to pitch around Tatis in that situation anyway. The more guys we get on base. Rengifo is a major league hitter. Feel good about it. He had a home run off Raisel Iglesias tonight, so to say he can\u2019t do that against Fuentes would not be ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tidbits<\/p>\n
Merrill\u2019s home run was his fourth in four games. He had four in four twice in 2024.
\nMerrill also singled and has his batting average up to .225, the highest it has been since he was hitting .228 on May 10. His 24 multi-hit games are second most on the Padres behind Tatis\u2019 30.
\nFrance\u2019s 0-for-5 night ended his hitting streak at nine games. He hit .455 (15-for-33) with five home runs and four doubles during the streak.
\nCronenworth went 2-for-4 with a double last night and is batting .204 (33-for-162). It is the first time his average has been above .200 since the season\u2019s fourth game. He is 17-for-61 (.279) since returning from a two-month stay on the concussion injured list.
\nRengifo\u2019s home run was his first in 228 plate appearances this season. (He began the season with the Brewers before being released in June.) That leaves just two players (Taylor Walls and Chandler Simpson, both on the Rays) with at least 200 plate appearances and no home runs in 2026.
\nRengifo yesterday became the 10th Padres player to start a game in the second spot in the order. That is the second most players any team has used in that crucial spot. Six different Padres have been in the two-hole for at least six starts, most in the major leagues. The Padres are one of six teams to have gotten a sub-.700 OPS from their No.2 hitters. Rengifo was 1-for-5 yesterday.
\nHere is a really stupid thing I must correct: Anyone who has read the newsletter for a time has figured out I am prone to making simple math mistakes at 3 a.m. Yesterday, I did some reverse math. I wrote that Tatis\u2019 home run on Tuesday was the longest of his career, three feet longer than his previous long. Nope. It was the second longest, three feet shorter than his career long. Maybe if I had read my own chart, which I put together and that ran in the same item, I would have noticed the discrepancy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/longHR_eeb84f.png\")
<\/p>\n
All right, that\u2019s it for me. Early game today (9:15 a.m. PT) and then a flight to Miami.<\/p>\n
Talk to you tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning from Atlanta, The headline on my game story from last night read, \u201cLate rally not enough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":["post-409499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}