San Diego Padres sputtering as Wild Card pressure grows
By Kevin Henry
While it appeared that MLB’s schedule-makers had handed the San Diego Padres an amazing gift with nine consecutive home games to end the 2022 campaign, home feels anything but comfortable for the struggling Padres.
Offense missing for San Diego Padres as Wild Card pressure builds
Coming off a series where they dropped two of three games to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and went just 3-for-26 with runners in scoring position on their way to scoring six runs in those three games, the San Diego Padres watched their offense disappear into the night again on Friday against the Chicago White Sox, falling 3-1.
San Diego had just seven hits on the night and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position against the White Sox.
The Padres will likely be glad to see the calendar turn to October, putting behind them a month where the offense certainly didn’t live up to its potential.
The #Padres offense has suddenly disappeared, scoring just 4 runs during their 3-game losing streak at home. They were held to 2 or fewer runs 11 times in September.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 1, 2022
Heading into Saturday, San Diego still holds the second Wild Card slot and fifth overall spot in the National League postseason bracket, 1.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres are also a virtual lock to earn a spot in the playoffs, entering Saturday’s play with a 92.4 chance to make the postseason (per FanGraphs). However, a Padres team that went all in at the MLB trade deadline still isn’t hitting on all cylinders as the regular season winds down, and that’s a concern for a team that will have to win on the road in the best-of-three Wild Card round if it wants to advance to the NLDS.
Next. To the Dodgers, Sean Manaea is a pitching pinata. dark
Can San Diego find a cure for its stagnant offense before the Wild Card round begins in less than a week? The clock is ticking for manager Bob Melvin to find the right formula.