This story was originally published by Dead Spin
There is no time for the San Diego Padres to sulk about losing a game they could have won.
One out from sweeping the Detroit Tigers and improving their playoff position, San Diego lost 4-3 on Thursday night when reliable closer Robert Suarez gave up a two-strike grand slam to Parker Meadows.
The Padres aim to bounce back on Friday night when they host the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series.
San Diego (80-62) still leads the Arizona Diamondbacks by a half-game for the National League’s first wild card but missed a good chance to gain ground on the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres fell five behind in the division with 20 games remaining.
“We just play every day,” San Diego manager Mike Shildt said. “We just play the game the right way every day. That’s what we do. So we’ll be just fine.”
After losing for just the 12th time in 42 games, San Diego will look to Michael King (11-8, 3.17 ERA) to get back into the win column. King has lost his past two starts, including a 4-1 decision on Aug. 29 in St. Louis, where he gave up two runs on seven hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
King got a couple of extra days of rest after the Padres activated Yu Darvish from the injured list to start Wednesday night. King is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts this year against San Francisco. He lost his only prior meeting with the Giants in a relief appearance in 2023.
King earned a 4-0 win at San Francisco on April 6 after firing seven shutout innings and permitting only four hits. A week earlier, he walked a career-high seven in four innings during a no-decision against the Giants.
San Diego has sought extra rest for King on occasion in the second half, mindful that his 150 2/3 innings are a career high.
“I actually feel very good,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because of stints like this where I got eight days. Those kinds of things almost reset me and I’ve been feeling great … knock on wood.”
As for the Giants (69-72), they are in the spoiler role for the remainder of the season. They offered San Diego some help on Thursday by rallying from an early two-run deficit to nip Arizona 3-2 on Patrick Bailey’s walk-off double in the ninth inning.
Bailey, who knocked in all three runs for San Francisco, entered the game in a 6-for-75 (.080) slump.
“The last month and a half hasn’t gone the way I wished,” Bailey said, “but I’ve felt better the last couple days and last couple games.”
The bad news from that game is that the Giants needed eight innings from their bullpen after Blake Snell departed after a 42-pitch first inning that saw him yield both runs. San Francisco could use some length from rookie Mason Black (0-2, 7.45 ERA) on Friday.
In his latest outing, Black took a 4-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday despite striking out six hitters in five innings and allowing just two runs on four hits and no walks. It was the longest of his four major league starts and five appearances. This will be his first outing against the Padres.
San Francisco owns a 4-3 lead in the season series. The teams split four games in San Diego to start the season.
–Field Level Media
