​SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The San Diego Padres (44-46) have hit a rough patch, getting routed by the Arizona Diamondbacks (45-45) 8-0 on Monday night. Just a couple of weeks ago, San Diego swept the high-flying Braves and won the opener of their series with the Dodgers, but since then the skid has continued. The Padres dropped the last two games to the Dodgers, were swept by the Cubs, went three of four in Los Angeles, and while they salvaged Sunday’s finale, they returned home looking more like a seller than a buyer ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Veteran pitcher Walker Buehler had seemed to rebound in June, allowing only five runs across 26.1 innings and feeling confident about his delivery and his ability to stay under a run per game. But once July arrived, the momentum stalled. In two starts this month, Buehler has surrendered 16 earned runs in nine innings, becoming the first pitcher in the majors to allow that many earned runs over a two-game stretch this season. “Second start in a row,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Can’t blame the weather like we could in Chicago, but he’s just leaving balls over the plate, and guys are doing damage on it.” On Monday, Buehler lasted five innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs while striking out four over 93 pitches.
Two pitches in, Arizona had the offense rolling. Ketel Marte launched a ball to center that Jackson Merrill couldn’t handle for a triple. Geraldo Perdomo was hit by a pitch, putting two on base. Perdomo tried to steal second, and Buehler’s late throw sailed wide, allowing Marte to score for a 1-0 lead. Matt Kepler followed with an RBI single to left, stretching the advantage to 2-0.
“We get back home and got a win yesterday, and we wanted to carry that momentum, but we deflated our team right from the start,” Buehler said. “Not a lot of positives, but we’ll keep working.” Arizona padded the lead in the fourth. Corbin Carroll led off with a double, Gabriel Moreno singled to move Carroll to third, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added an RBI single to make it 3-0. Later in the frame, Kepler crushed a three-run homer over the head of Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field, further widening the margin.