The nothing continues. Or the close enough to nothing that it hardly matters.
The Padres lost 3-1 to the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park (box score), because losing is what a team that scores fewer than three runs a game will do more far more often than it wins.
That is what the Padres are doing over the past week and a half, scoring a total of 29 runs as they have lost eight of 11.
Their overall record (37-27) remains among the best in baseball. They would be in a wild card playoff game if the postseason were beginning today.
There are 98 games remaining in the regular season. They can only hope a long, hot summer has a corresponding effect on their bats. Because winning requires scoring, and the Padres have not done much of either recently as Wednesday’s loss concluded a 3-4 homestand.
The Padres fell into a tie for second place in the National League West, and a win by the Dodgers on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh would drop the Padres to third place for the first time since May 2.
Their pitching staff is the major leagues’ best by many measures. But it isn’t perfect, and they can’t hit very well.
Yu Darvish (6-2) allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings Wednesday and took the loss. It was just the second time the Padres have lost in his 13 starts.
That is what happens when a team has five baserunners in a game, including one in the final six innings.
Pitching against the team that in December traded him and the $59 million he is owed through 2023 to the Padres in exchange for Zach Davies and four young prospects, Darvish struck out eight and walked two.
The second of those walks, to Ian Happ leading off the seventh inning, was the deciding run. Happ moved to third on a single by Patrick Wisdom and scored on Anthony Rizzo’s double-play grounder.
Wednesday was the third start in a row Darvish did not allow a hit in the first three innings. The first one he did yield to the Cubs was Joc Pederson’s 424-foot home run leading off the fourth inning that tied the game 1-1.
Sergio Alcantara’s solo homer off Emilio Pagán in the eighth inning gave the Cubs (35-27) their final margin of victory.
Recently, it doesn’t matter who is on the mound for the opposing team. The Padres scored one run in five innings against Jake Arrieta, who entered the game with a 5.26 ERA in 11 starts. The 35-year-old had gone a total of 5 2/3 innings in his previous two starts, allowing 11 runs.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the third when Tommy Pham singled, stole second and scored on Manny Machado’s single to left field.
Victor Caratini’s single was the only other hit (and only baserunner) the Padres had the rest of the way against Arrieta and three Cubs relievers.
That cut down on the runners the Padres stranded in scoring position. Machado’s single came in one of two at-bats they had with a runner on second or third base Wednesday. Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out in the other. The Padres are 8-for-65 with runners in scoring position over the past 11 games.
