MONTERREY, Mexico _ The Padres have been sure to talk about improvements Bryan Mitchell has made.
It's what a supportive organization does when there isn't something tangible to praise.
After Mitchell's start last Sunday and then again hours before his start here Saturday, Padres manager Andy Green acknowledged that improvement is all well and good but not what being a major-league starter is ultimately about.
"It's time for results," Green said Saturday afternoon. "We've talked about that. He understands that implicitly."
The results are getting worse.
The Padres came back from yet another hole in which Mitchell buried them, Eric Hosmer's two-run homer early and Raffy Lopez's two-run homer in the sixth inning helping lift them to a 7-4 victory over the Dodgers.
In the short-term, coming off a game in which they were no-hit, that's good news.
This season, however, is about the bigger picture of finding out who can be a part of what the Padres envision as a much more competitive future.
And so the real story out of Saturday, the middle game of the series at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, is that Mitchell had arguably his worst outing of his extended tryout.
Clearly, Green's patience was paper thin, as he walked to the mound to yank the struggling right-hander with one out in the third inning and the Padres trailing 3-2.
It was the sixth time in seven starts Mitchell allowed at least three runs. It came in his shortest outing.
The Padres seemed inclined since acquiring him in trade in Decmeber to give the 26-year-old Mitchell time in his first real opportunity to be a starter. A number thrown around by some in the organization prior to the season was a minimum of nine starts to see what he could do.
That was worst-case scenario. And it is happening.
Seven starts in, it seems clear Mitchell can't start. At least not, to borrow a Greenism, at this point in time.
Some pitchers need more seasoning. The Padres recently sent Luis Perdomo down to Triple A for struggles similar to Mitchell's.
It should probably be taken as an indication that there will at least be discussion between the team's decision makers about Mitchell's immediate fate that Green did not allow Mitchell to work through his issues Saturday.
Despite a tendency to fall behind _ Mitchell gave up at least one first-inning run in five of his six starts and came into Saturday with a 16.50 first-inning ERA _ Mitchell had gone into the sixth three times.
After 55 pitches, just 28 of them strikes, Mitchell was done on Saturday.
And this on a day he got through the first inning without allowing a run.
The Padres started the scoring Saturday when Travis Jankowski led off the bottom of the first with a triple and Hosmer lined the next pitch over the right-field wall.
The Dodgers tied it in their next at-bat, exploiting Mitchell's other big weaknesses _ not throwing strikes and getting the third out of an inning.
Matt Kemp led off with a home run to center field. But after Joc Pederson singled, a double play grounder emptied the bases.
Mitchell proceeded to walk Max Muncy and allowed a single to Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda that advanced Muncy to third. Chris Taylor's single scored Muncy.
Mitchell has allowed a .286 batting average, .444 on-base percentage and six runs with two outs this season.
Mitchell's third walk of the game came with one out in the third. Cody Bellinger promptly stole second base and then scored on Kemp's single.
Robbie Erlin, who could be in line to replace Mitchell in the rotation, replaced Mitchell and got through the fifth without further damage.
The Padres tied the game 3-3 on Franchy Cordero's walk, Jose Pirela's single and a sacrifice fly by Freddy Galvis in the fourth.
The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. With Adam Cimber in place of Erlin, Pederson doubled and Chase Utley walked. Kirby Yates was called on and walked pinch-hitter Breyvic Valera to load the bases and hit Chris Taylor to bring in the run.
Christian Villanueva reached base for the first time in this series in his home country, led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk. Two batters later, Lopez pulled his first hit as a Padre over the wall in right field to make if 5-4.
Craig Stammen followed with two scoreless innings.
The Padres added two more runs on a walk and three singles in the eighth, and Brad Hand earned his eighth save with a scoreless ninth.
