The Padres are still searching for any spark, and Jackson Merrill’s attempt to bunt in the second inning against the Mets showed how far the club is willing to go to break out of its slump. The play did not work, but it reflected a broader effort inside the dugout to find a new way forward after another shutout loss and a stretch of offense that has rarely produced steady pressure.
Merrill later said he took responsibility for the decision, but he also stressed the need for the lineup to do something different. “We need something to get going,” he said, after a fastball above the zone turned into a foul popout that ended the inning.
Trying something different
The Padres have not used the bunt much this season, and they have successfully executed only five sacrifice bunts. That stands in contrast to last season, when the club led MLB with 48 sacrifice bunts under Mike Shildt and showed a clear willingness to give up outs if it might create runs.
This year’s version has looked far less productive at the plate, and Merrill’s decision fits that reality. The team has often stranded runners and failed to cash in on chances, so the idea of trying a small-ball approach made sense even if the result did not change the score.
Manager Craig Stammen said the players have spoken about finding any possible route to get the offense moving. “We’ve got to try any way possible to get this thing going,” he said, adding that the group has tried to stay together and focus on playing baseball rather than pressing for individual results.
Miller gets some work
Mason Miller got a chance to work after a long gap between appearances, and the outing came with the Padres already trailing. He had not pitched since the previous Friday, so he threw in the bullpen after Thursday’s game in Philadelphia before taking the mound again last night.
Miller entered the ninth inning with San Diego down 4-0 and threw 17 pitches. He allowed a run on two singles and a stolen base before being removed with two outs, but the appearance at least gave the closer needed game action after a week without pitching.
Morgan returns with a clean outing
David Morgan provided one of the few bright spots of the night when he returned and delivered two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and struck out two after being recalled earlier in the day to replace Jeremiah Estrada, who went on the injured list with right knee inflammation.
Morgan had been sent to Triple-A on April 30 after four straight difficult outings, and he used that time to work on mechanical adjustments. His return offered the Padres a more stable look in relief, even in a game that otherwise went badly for the club.
More pressure on an offense that is running out of answers
The loss left the Padres with only three hits, and it marked the third shutout in their past 10 games. Their .215 batting average remains the lowest in the league, and the team has now dropped six straight.
Michael King allowed four runs, but the offense had already put the game in a difficult position by failing to produce anything against a Mets staff that kept traffic off the bases. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached to start one inning, but Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado quickly ended that threat, which has become a familiar pattern for San Diego.
The struggles have also affected the atmosphere at home, where the Padres fell to 16-17. The announced crowd was 42,159, but the game still carried the feel of a night when frustration was building, especially after another game in which the lineup could not sustain pressure.
A difficult stretch across the roster
The offensive slump has also dragged down several key bats. Machado went 1-for-4 for the third straight game and is hitting .175, while Xander Bogaerts is batting .127 over his last 16 games with one home run.
Catcher Rodolfo Durán reached base twice with two walks, but his batting average still sits at .080. The broader trend has been even worse, with the Padres holding a lead at the end of just eight of their last 99 innings and trailing at the end of 67 of them.
A tough matchup still ahead
The schedule does not ease up much, either, because Nolan McLean is next on the list for the Padres. The Mets right-hander owns a Stuff+ rating of 107, and San Diego has already faced 14 pitchers this season who carried a Stuff+ mark of 105 or higher.
That is part of why the current stretch feels so heavy for the lineup, because every weak inning seems to reinforce the same problem. The Padres keep searching for a cleaner contact point, a better at-bat, or even a small gamble that can start the offense, and Merrill’s bunt attempt was another sign that the group knows simple repetition has not been enough.
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