Padres don’t get much, but give a lot in loss to Mariners – San Diego Union-Tribune

SEATTLE – The Padres have made it this far, entering the important games in September, by playing generally clean baseball and striking when their opponents didn’t.

It happened to them on Wednesday.

The Padres gave up runs, didn’t have a baserunner until the seventh inning and lost 5-2 to the Mariners.

It didn’t feel that close.

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s home run down the left field line with one out in the seventh inning thwarted Bryan Woo’s attempt at a perfect game.

“You want to break that,” Tatis said. “You don’t want to go down on the other side of a perfect game or a no-hitter.”

It could have been a scoreless game up to that point if not for a sloppy third inning in which a walk and a hit batter by Michael King and an error by Jake Croneworth gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead and cut King’s night down the back end by an inning.

The Mariners led 5-0 before Tatis hit a home run, scoring their other two runs against Adrián Morejón, who walked the first two batters in the sixth inning.

“We had three walks and one hit batter, all of them scored,” said manager Mike Shildt. “And of course we don’t help ourselves with defense, but that’s very, very uncharacteristic of us.”

The bigger loss for the Padres was that they dropped to the National League’s second wild-card spot, a half-game behind the Diamondbacks and 1½ games ahead of the Mets. Both teams won on Wednesday. The Braves, who also lost, are the first team left out, one game behind the Mets.

All four teams battling for the NL’s final three playoff spots have a bye on Thursday, after which the Padres will have 15 games and the others will each have 16.

Wednesday’s game revolved around what appeared to be an inning-ending double-play grounder that gave the Mariners a chance to score three runs, and the Padres, who have won 10 games after trailing by three or more runs, a major league record, were only briefly able to overcome that deficit.

Before Tatis’ home run, the only ball the Padres put in play with an exit velocity of more than 96.4 mph was Manny Machado’s 113.4 mph line drive to start the fifth inning. And left fielder Randy Arozarena caught it with a sort of tripping hop after it ran 28 feet to the right.

It often seems that every special assignment like the one Woo was working on requires a special play on the field. And that was the case. Through Wednesday, league-wide, 49 outs had been recorded on balls hit 113 mph or faster this season.

Cronenworth didn’t help his pitcher in the third inning, although King took the blame for being in that position in the first place after No. 9 batter Josh Rojas was walked with one out and King struck out Victor Robles in succession.

“Bad walk,” King said. “Can’t walk the ninth hole. Two strikes for Robles, beat him. Makes it a very difficult hole to get out of.”

With runners on first and second base, Julio Rodríguez hit a grounder to shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who made a throw to Cronenworth, who appeared to set up a double play.

But Cronenworth never gained control of the ball. Initially, Robles was ruled out because Cronenworth simply botched the transfer. But a replay overturned the decision, resulting in the bases being loaded.

“It’s a low throw,” Cronenworth said. “So I’m not going to change up on the ground or where I was, but I’m making the motion to change up. Just because I catch it with one hand doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as a changeup.”

Cal Raleigh followed with a soft single that brought in a run, and after King Arozarena struck out, Luke Raley hit a single to right field that brought in two more runs.

King faced 33 pitches in that inning, 18 of which came after the error. Not only did that cost him the two unearned runs (none of the three would have counted if the double play had been completed, but a double play cannot be considered for official scoring), it also meant that he was out of the game after five innings and 90 pitches.

King (12-9, 3.06) won for the 12th time in his last 13 starts, a span in which he is 7-5 and the Padres are 8-5 and his ERA of 2.55 ranks fourth in the major leagues.

Woo, another young strikeout pitcher of which the Mariners seem to have an endless supply, left the field with two outs in the seventh inning to a standing ovation from the sparse crowd at T-Mobile Park. With his uniquely low pitch and lively fastball, he was outstanding until Tatis’ 115 mph ball landed just wide of the foul post. Woo allowed a double from Jurickson Profar, struck out Manny Machado and walked Jake Cronenworth after Tatis’ home run.

Troy Taylor took over and Bogaerts brought Profar home with a single before Jackson Merrill retired.

The Mariners could have been inches away from another run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Arozarena sent a fly ball into right field that Tatis ran over the wall and caught with a leap.

The Padres had a hit in the eighth inning before losing to Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz in the ninth inning.

Originally published: September 11, 2024 at 21:14