PHOENIX _ It was only 100 degrees in downtown Phoenix when Thursday's game began, so the locals were evidently in no hurry to get inside the airplane hangar that is called Chase Field.
So it was easy to hear when _ after Austin Hedges became the fifth straight Padres batter to reach base with a single through the middle of the infield that put the visiting team up 2-0 _ a man sitting in the field level seats along the first base side yelled a reminder to the home team.
"It's the Padres."
While Jose Pirela continued to justify his call-up and inclusion in the lineup, Wil Myers showed signs of breaking out of his month-long slump and Hunter Renfroe kept hitting, the same old Padres did eventually show up.
A 15-3 victory gave the Diamondbacks a sweep of the three-game series.
Since running a win streak to a season-high five games on Saturday, the Padres have lost five in a row.
And they've crashed in familiar fashion.
Thursday's margin was the 10th time this season the Padres have lost by 10 or more runs, most in the majors. Including Tuesday's 10-2 result, the Diamondbacks have administered five of the Padres' MLB-high 11 defeats by eight or more runs.
"They've crushed us," Padres manager Andy Green said. "... Any time you get swept it's frustrating. It's frustrating when a team has your number. When a team beats you by double digits, it's frustrating."
The Padres have been outscored by 117 runs this season. Entering their game Thursday night at Atlanta, the Phillies have been outscored by 68, and they are the next-closest.
In that the Padres of 2017 are forced to measure success in increments, the positives from Thursday included Pirela getting a walk, a single and a double in the leadoff spot in his third game since being recalled from Triple-A El Paso on Tuesday. Pirela went hitless in his start Tuesday but was 3 for 3 off the bench Wednesday.
"He'll be back out there tomorrow," Green said. "We're looking for anybody who wants to provide any type of spark."
Myers was 2 for 3 and for the first time since April 29 scored two runs in a game. At the end of that day, Myers was batting .318 with a .333 on-base percentage and .589 slugging percentage. In the 33 games since, those splits had fallen to .255/.307/.481.
And Renfroe singled and doubled in his first two at-bats Thursday. He is batting .284 over the past 26 games after sitting at .200 after his first 33 games this season.
