PHOENIX — Daulton Varsho walked off the San Diego Padres, who continue to fall down.
Varsho launched a full-count curveball from Craig Stammen to the seats beyond right field leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory, dooming the Padres to their third consecutive loss.
Their lead in the National League wild-card race was trimmed to 21/2 games over the Cincinnati Reds.
Wil Myers’ two run-homer, his third hit of the night, followed an Eric Hosmer single for the Padres’ runs off Madison Bumgarner, tying the game 2-2 in the seventh inning. The Diamondbacks left-hander retired the next two batters before singles by Trent Grisham and Adam Frazier drove him from the game. Taylor Clarke ended the inning by striking out Manny Machado.
The Padres have scored four runs in the past three games.
Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell did well to get through five innings.
That is not quite the compliment it might seem. And it is not what the Padres needed Friday night.
It wasn’t a terrible outing by Snell, just an inefficient 101 pitches.
Regardless of whatever offensive shortcoming the Padres are currently experiencing, they have a starting pitching void that could prove a real problem as they battle to hold onto playoff position over the season’s final month-and-a-half.
Hopeful signs in recent weeks were fleeting, all but vanishing in a succession of poor performances by Ryan Weathers and injuries to Yu Darvish and Chris Paddack.
The team’s relievers entered Friday having thrown 18 2/3 innings the previous three days. The season has been going on for 41/2 months. Another bullpen game is on tap for Sunday.
So, a night after Darvish left his start in the third inning with back tightness, Snell took the mound Friday with a mandate.
“Snell and (Joe) Musgrove, today and tomorrow, we need them to throw the ball the way they’re capable of,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said before the game. “That resets everything. And that’s been our best winning formula.”
The Padres are 25-7 when their pitchers make a quality start (at least six innings and no more than three earned runs).
The Padres’ 32 quality starts are seventh fewest among major league teams. They got three in a row last week from Darvish, Snell and Musgrove. Their three starters since (Stammen, Weathers and Darvish) combined for 91/3 innings.
