SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Padres’ (60-57) pitching continued to be a problem on Friday evening as they returned home and suffered a 6-3 loss against one of the hottest teams in MLB, the Houston Astros (60-57).
Houston has now won 13 of its last 16 games, while San Diego is coming off a 2-2 series split against Arizona.
Both the pitching and offense were problems for the Padres, especially as they left seven runners in scoring position, which has been a recurring theme for them this season.
Friday evening was San Diego’s first opportunity to see Robbie Ray, who had a rough outing. He went 5.0 innings, giving up seven hits, walking five and four earned runs while striking out only two batters.
“I just kind of put myself in bad situations with the walks,” Ray said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I was just getting a little quick tonight. Got ground balls, but they were in situations with traffic on, and I think overall, just got to limit the walks.”
Aug 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Aug 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Ray started the game with two pitches for two outs, which had the Friar Faithful excited, but it took him 13 more pitches to get out of the inning. Still, he escaped without allowing a run.
That changed in the next inning. With one out, Ray threw a sinker that right fielder Cam Smith hit to left-center field for a home run to put the Astros up 1-0.
In the top of the third inning, Ray continued to run into trouble. He walked DH Yordan Álvarez, third baseman Isaac Paredes singled off him and Jose Altuve followed with a walk to load the bases. First baseman Christian Walker then singled to center, bringing home two Astros to extend their lead to 3-0.
In the top of the fourth, center fielder Jake Meyers hit a double before Álvarez brought him home with a single to right field to make it 4-0.
“His command was definitely off a little bit, so he got behind and a lot of counts,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Walked probably more guys than he has all season. So just he grinded that outing out, gave us five, which was big. Showed how competitive he is, and that he’s going to be able to do that for us the rest of the year.”
The Padres responded in the bottom of the fourth inning when Manny Machado led off with a single to center. After a Luis Rengifo groundout, Jackson Merrill hit a triple toward right field that brought Machado home to get San Diego on the board, 4-1. Luis Campusano walked next, and when Gavin Sheets grounded out, Merrill scored before Campusano was tagged out at second, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
The two big trades A.J. Preller made were for pitchers Ray and Casey Mize, who have combined to give up 16 hits and 12 earned runs in their first outings. Not a good start for either player.
“I know the reaction was this is their first start, and they didn’t pitch their best of the season,” Stammen said. “But they didn’t pitch their best every single time early in the season either. It’s kind of the ebbs and flows of the season, and we’re thankful that they’re on our team and looking forward to the next eight, nine, ten starts and playoff starts that they get.”
There was a weird sequence in the bottom of the fifth inning when Fernando Tatis Jr. took two straight strikes and walked away from the plate, seemingly thinking he had been quick-pitched. Well, that must have fired him up because on the next pitch, Ronel Blanco threw a slider down the middle that Tatis hammered to the second level of the Western Metal Building.
It was his 10th home run of the season and the 162nd of his career. He is one behind Nate Colbert for second place on the Padres’ all-time leaderboard. The home run cut Houston’s lead to 4-3.
Aug 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) is congratulated by third baseman Manny Machado (13) after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Petco Park.
Aug 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) is congratulated by third baseman Manny Machado (13) after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Petco Park.
“I think that’s his number one goal: is us winning,” Stammen said of Tatis. “It’s not so many home runs he hits or what his batting average is, but how can he help us win.”
The Padres switched pitchers, bringing in Yuki Matsui, but when Smith came up, it was the same result as earlier. He hit his 15th home run of the season toward left field, his second homer of the game, to increase the Astros’ lead to 5-3.
The best chance San Diego had came in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Padres loaded the bases with two outs. Rengifo hit a ball toward Altuve, who threw him out at first to end the threat without a run scoring.
Former Padres closer and current Astro Josh Hader came in and finished off the game by retiring all three batters he faced in order. San Diego is now two full games behind the Phillies for the last Wild Card spot.
The Padres will look to even the series on Saturday when they face the Astros at 4:15 p.m. PT, with Peter Lambert (8-5) taking the mound against Michael King (6-8).
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