​CINCINNATI, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 02: Ethan Salas #8 of San Diego Padres makes his MLB debut during the game against Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 02, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) | Getty Images It was a disastrous road trip. The San Diego Padres had an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the trailing Arizona Diamondbacks. Instead they played poorly, losing five out of six games, and are now a half game back in the Wild Card chase.It was a team-wide failure, for sure. Poor pitching, offense and defense derailed any hope of coming home with a little cushion in the standings. Since going 21-7 from July to late August, the Friars have won two of their last nine games. They have multiple one-run losses, showing no killer instinct or urgency, over that stretch. The Friars now have seven series left in the season, beginning this weekend with the New York Yankees. New York will be followed by three against the Washington Nationals for a six-game home stand. After an off day, they hit the road again for three against division rival San Francisco Giants and four versus the Colorado Rockies. Those two teams have losing records but this team is seven games under .500 on the road.They are also 27-36 versus over .500 teams. Four of the coming seven series are against teams that currently have winning records. After the road series against the Giants and Rockies, the last road games are the three against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 22-24. There are 12 at home and 10 on the road.This is go time for the Padres. If they don’t put the throttle down in all phases of the game, the season will end without any playoff games. It seems obvious that this team is not currently playing like a championship team. Cleaning things up in all parts of the game will have to happen quickly if they have any hope of going anywhere past the end of the regular season.Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta updatesPresident of baseball operations A.J.Preller was on the flagship radio station (97.3 TheFan) this morning and provided an update on the status of the two Padres pitchers. Musgrove hasn’t pitched since his rehab start with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas on Aug. 27. His arm has not rebounded well from his start, experiencing soreness that has kept him from being able to pitch in a game since then. Preller said he is throwing but there is no timeline for his next appearance. Preller also said that Musgrove is sufficiently built up to help the team if it is determined he is healthy enough to pitch.Nick Pivetta completed a rehab assignment with El Paso on Aug. 30. Preller stated he is in San Diego this weekend for evaluation and could be with the Padres “sooner rather than later.”It would be a big lift to the team if either one of them could add innings to this pitching staff, either as a starter or out of the bullpen.Casey MizePreller also discussed the difficulties Mize has had since arriving with t