San Diego Padres bullpen fails team again in second straight loss

The San Diego Padres bullpen cost the team another win by giving up four straight home runs to end the series with the Washington Nationals.

It’s becoming a familiar story: the San Diego Padres bullpen gives up runs and either makes a game closer than it has to be, or causes the team to lose it altogether.

On Sunday it happened again, and the culprit was a familiar face.

Craig Stammen continued his rocky month by surrendering four runs on five hits, turning a then-tie with the Washington Nationals into a 5-2 defeat for the Padres.

Stammen (now 4-3) has two losses and a blown save across his last three outings. In June, he’s given up seven runs on nine hits in just three innings of work.

More from Padres News

• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
• This veteran DH target seems ideal for contending Padres roster

His latest miscue was particularly frustrating, as he gave up not one, not two, but four home runs to a Nationals lineup that’s currently ranked fourth in the National League East.

Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon all left the ballpark for Washington on Sunday. If Turner’s name sounds familiar, it’s because the Padres drafted him and then sent him to Washington as part of the Wil Myers trade.

Turner was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Myers reached on a fielding error by Rendon and stole second base as a pinch hitter on his day off from the starting lineup.

But back to Stammen, who is responsible for two of the six losses the San Diego Padres racked up over a nine-game homestand. His ERA has now gone from 2.64 to 4.28 in June, according to Baseball Reference, and he was recalcitrant when facing the media after the game.

“We need to figure something out and get better,” he said, per MLB.com.

That might be an understatement. In this opening homestand, San Diego only won three games while two of the three teams they played—Washington and the Miami Marlins—entered PETCO Park with losing records.

Two of those three wins required the Padres to come from behind. Only their June 3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies saw them be the first team on the board.

The Padres allowed at least four runs in eight of the nine games during this homestand. In three of them, they surrendered nine.

Across their six losses, San Diego gave up 16 runs in the sixth inning or later. That means that the bullpen is surrendering an average of 2.67 runs in every defeat.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers picking up a win on Sunday, the Padres are now 12 games back in the National League West and in third place; they dropped back to .500 with their latest loss.

If there’s a silver lining to be had, though, it’s that they remain just one game back of both Arizona and Colorado, who are tied for second. With a good series, they could jump them both and be in a position to try and chase down the Dodgers—which is what makes it all the more disappointing that they couldn’t win any series in this homestand.

For complete coverage of the San Diego Padres 2019 season, continue following Friars on Base.