SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres (31-23) dropped their third straight game Tuesday night, falling 4-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies (28-27).
Despite allowing three home runs, the Padres had multiple opportunities to rally late. Five total home runs were hit in the game, but Philadelphia hit three and came away with the victory.
The Padres’ offense has been a hot topic all season, especially during a rough month of May. Despite those struggles, they keep finding ways to win games. Having 31 wins without consistent production at the plate is impressive, but it is also not sustainable. At some point, the Padres will need their offense to match the level of their pitching and defense if they want to keep pace in the standings now being 3.5 games back of the LA Dodgers.
"We're winning ball games, and we're not even playing good baseball," Machado said. "It's a positive sign, and I think everybody in here knows it. It's not going to sustain all year, and we're gonna have to step up, and we're gonna do it, and I think we're inching closer to that."
San Diego had a prime chance in the bottom of the eighth inning after Ramón Laureano crushed a home run and the Padres put two more runners on base with Machado coming to the plate. Machado, who had already homered earlier in the game, grounded out to third base to end the threat.
Padres starter Randy Vásquez struggled, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while striking out only two batters across 5.2 innings.
Vásquez started the game strong in the top of the first inning, getting both Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to fly out to right field for two quick outs. Bryce Harper then connected on a cutter from Vásquez and launched it to right field for an early 1-0 lead.
"It is really frustrating," Vásquez said. "You think you have the ability to get out of the inning at that time, and then that happens at the end of the inning. Yeah, that's very frustrating. You think you could have a good outing for your team when that happens."
David Frerker-Imagn Images
May 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) celebrates after hitting a one run home run during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
The Phillies struck again in the second inning. Vásquez retired Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott on groundouts before catcher J.T. Realmuto demolished another cutter, this time to left field, extending the lead to 2-0.
In the top of the third inning, Vásquez got Edmundo Sosa and Schwarber to fly out before Turner blasted a pitch 434 feet for Philadelphia’s third home run of the night. Harper then walked, and Brandon Marsh singled to put two runners on base. Bohm followed with a single to center field, and Harper raced home from second base to extend the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the 4th inning, center fielder Jackson Merrill tracked a deep fly ball hit by Sosa and leaped at the warning track to rob yet another home run.
"He's had a great season, other than batting," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "Felt really good with him playing center field, and we believe it's just a matter of time before he starts swinging with a hot bat. He's struggling right now, but we're behind him, and we got his back."
The Padres responded in the bottom of the fourth inning when Gavin Sheets reached first base after Turner bobbled a ground ball hit directly at him. One pitch later, Machado hammered a sinker from Aaron Nola to left field for his ninth home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
A fun fact about Machado: his last three hits have all been home runs. In fact, five of his 10 hits during the month of May have left the yard.
David Frerker-Imagn Images
May 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrates with center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) after hitting a two-run home run during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Petco Park.
Padres reliever Wandy Peralta ran into trouble in the top of the eighth inning after walking Harper and García and then hitting Realmuto with a pitch to load the bases. However, Justin Crawford grounded out to first base, keeping the Padres within striking distance.
Laureano capitalized on that opportunity in the bottom of the eighth inning when he blasted a 409-foot home run. His seventh homer of the season brought the Padres within one run at 4-3.
"You're just trying to spark a rally for the team, to do something positive, and that's exactly what I was thinking," Laureano said in Spanish. "It felt really good, let's say, in quotation marks, that I needed it, but at the same time, I kept moving forward."
Machado’s groundout came later in the same inning after Laureano’s homer. In the bottom of the ninth, Miguel Andújar, Jackson Merrill, and Ty France went down in order to end the game.
"Results are definitely frustrating," Machado said about the offense. "Obviously, no, we're not getting them, and you can see it. We all know it. But we're sticking to it, sticking to our plans, sticking to our approach, sticking to what we need to do, and eventually things, things will turn around."
The Padres will try to salvage the series Wednesday afternoon when they host Philadelphia at 1:10 p.m. PT. Cristopher Sánchez (5-2) is scheduled to face Walker Buehler (3-2).