San Diego Padres swept by San Francisco Giants after three errors

The San Diego Padres lost another game to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, thanks to three errors committed by San Diego.

The San Diego Padres came into San Francisco poised to sweep the Giants and pick up two much needed games in the National League West. Instead, it ended up being the other way around.

Padres players committed three errors to help hand the Giants a 4-2 win, enabling the Giants to sweep the two-game series at Oracle Park and the Padres to lose their fourth consecutive outing.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Josh Naylor committed throwing errors in the fifth inning with the Padres up 2-1, which led to two Giants runs.

Reliever Robbie Erlin had his own error in the seventh which turned a ground ball out into a runner on second base, and San Francisco’s fourth and final run.

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It was an embarrassing day for the Padres, who arrived with the Giants sitting firmly in last place in the NL West. Now only four games separate San Francisco from San Diego, as the Friars have fallen two games under .500.

They let both games in the two-game set get away, blowing a lead on Tuesday with a shaky bullpen and then with the defensive miscues on Wednesday.

The team’s offense struggled as well, with two runs on five hits but also 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven players stranded on base.

Starter Joey Lucchesi was tagged for the loss (now 5-4), even though he pitched six good innings. He gave up three runs—including one home run—and five hits with two walks, but also struck out six.

In his last five starts, Lucchesi has pitched at least six innings every time but once. He’s also had at least five strikeouts in each game.

But the San Diego Padres have to right the ship, and do it quickly. They can’t afford to lose to the last-place team in their own division, especially when it’s because of their own mistakes. The team has now won only five of their last 16 games.

They begin another, even more important series with the Colorado Rockies on Thursday. Colorado is two and a half games ahead of the Padres and in second place in the NL West. Splitting the four games would allow San Diego to get back to .500 and put them on Colorado’s heels.

But losing it would send them tumbling further down the NL West ladder, especially if the Giants keep winning. It’s worth repeating: they’re only four games out of last place.

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