San Diego Padres bullpen fails again in lopsided loss to Rays

The San Diego Padres bullpen was a disaster again as the Friars dropped their series opener with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday evening.

On Tuesday night, Ian Kinsler pitched better than most of the San Diego Padres‘ bullpen.

Kinsler was asked to finish out the game on the mound as San Diego was pummeled by the Tampa Bay Rays in a 10-4 loss. Seven of those runs were surrendered by Padres relievers.

It was an overall uneven outing for the Friars, getting progressively worse as the night went on. Joey Lucchesi pushed through as much as he could, but didn’t even make it through the required five innings to be eligible for the win and was tagged for the loss instead (7-7).

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Lucchesi, who struggled through his latest start, struck out six but also walked three and gave up a two-run home run in the first inning that put the Padres in another early hole.

But as much as he didn’t have his best stuff, at least he left the game with the team only trailing by a run. The bullpen, which has been San Diego’s worst issue throughout the 2019 season, let the situation completely slip away and then some.

Trey Wingenter came on in the seventh and surrendered three runs on three hits; all of them were earned.

He was followed by new addition Carl Edwards Jr., who has looked incredibly shaky in his first two outings as a Padre; he gave up four runs and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning and now he has an ERA of 8.47.

It was Kinsler, normally the team’s second baseman, who came in and ended up being the closest thing the team had to a hero on Tuesday.

Not only did he pitch a scoreless inning (though with two walks), he also hit a two-run home run that narrowed the margin of defeat from 10-2 to 10-4.

Despite having nine hits, San Diego only posted two runs in the previous eight frames; they were held scoreless after the second inning until Kinsler’s long ball.

The Padres have now lost two in a row after taking three straight from the Colorado Rockies, and both of those losses have involved at least four runs being given up in the seventh or later.

At 55-63, the postseason is nearly out of reach for the San Diego Padres with a month and a half left this season. They’re seven games out of a wild card spot, and while that’s not insurmountable, there are eight teams in front of them.

And when they look back on this season, they’ll have to look at how many games they squandered because of a bullpen that almost continuously gives up runs. At least Fernando Tatis Jr., though he struck out three times, had another impressive catch that saw him getting serious air:

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