San Diego Padres: 3 to blame for the disappointing series against the Arizona Diamondbacks

San Diego's starting pitching let them down this weekend

Blake Snell has been the best Padres pitcher this season and the lefty did not throw in the series and he was missed. Seth Lugo was good Friday night, working six shutout innings, allowing five hits and the bullpen behind was nearly perfect.

Other than that, it was a nightmare on the mound for the Padres starters in the biggest series of 2023.

Newly-acquired Rich Hill went five innings Thursday night and allowed three runs and five hits which, by his standards, should be considered a good start. The problem was, he had three walks and surrendered two home runs, a two-run shot to Tommy Pham, and a solo blast to Gabriel Moreno.

The two teams moved up Sunday's series final one day to Saturday because Hurricane Hilary was expected to hit the area on Sunday. Matt Waldron was called up to make the start and the right-hander allowed five runs in five innings in a 6-4 loss in Game 1. Yu Darvish didn't fare much better in Game 2, allowing nine hits and four runs in an 8-1 loss.

San Diego's pitching has been better lately, but on a weekend when they needed them to step up, it just wasn't good enough against a free-swinging Diamondbacks team.

San Diego's offense failed to come through in the clutch

When your pitching is struggling, you need. your offense to help them out. That didn't happen as the Padres only managed to score 10 runs in four games combined off a Diamondbacks staff that is nothing special.

The biggest miss was in Game 1 Saturday when they lost 6-4. First-inning home runs from Ha-Seong Kim and Manny Machado even things up 2-2, but they could have easily had the lead after the first, but Juan Soto was picked off of first base right before Machado's homer. San Diego ended up leaving eight stranded in the two-run loss.

The one game in which the offense did anything to pick up the pitching was in the second game Friday in the bottom of the eighth inning. Scoreless entering the frame, two-run singles from Kim and Fernando Tatis, Jr. were the difference in the 4-0 victory.

Thursday night, the Padres left five on base, and then, in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday night, they left six. In the big picture, the offense should be producing more than they have this season and it is one area to look at as to what went wrong in 2023.

Arizona's Corbin Carroll caused problems all weekend at the top of the D-backs order

The Padres had their own problems on the mound and at the plate, but Arizona's young outfielder and All-Star, Corbin Carroll, had a big hand in all three of the Diamondbacks' wins.

Thursday night, Carroll drew a fourth-inning walk ahead of what turned out to be Pham's game-winning two-run home run. It may seem like nothing, but walks can hurt and that one made San Diego pay.

In the doubleheader on Saturday, Carroll set the table with two hits, including his 24th double in the first inning that began a two-run uprising. In the second game, he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored to key the rout of the Friars. He was a big disruption all weekend and played a big part in his team winning the three of the four games.

Corbin is young, talented and going to be around for a very long time in the Arizona lineup and outfield. The Padres are going to be dealing with him and he played a big role in basically ending the Friars' postseason hopes for 2023. They are not mathematically eliminated, but it sure feels like they are too far out with September closing in fast in 10 days.