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

You had the feeling that the San Diego Padres had a huge opportunity in front of them with their current 10-game homestand, which started out on a good note with them winning two out of three over the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles.

The Friars had a golden opportunity to make up some ground in the National League Wild Card race with sevne games at home against two of the teams that they would need to pass the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins. It felt like the Padres were in a good place.

Unfortunaltely for manager Bob Melvin and his team, that good feeling after taking two out of three from the Orioles went away against Arizona and more than likely, so did their postseason chances.

Arizona takes three out of four from San Diego in crucial four-game series

Arizona came into Southern California and played like a team very much alive for a playoff berth, while the Padres were beating in nearly all facets of the game in the series. San Diego's lone win came Friday night, 4-0, and if it wasn't one thing that the Friars hurt themselves with it was another. Here are three areas to blame for the weekend collapse by the Padres.

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.

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.