For the Padres, it wasn’t April that was the cruelest month, but August.
They won just 10 of 28 games in August, severely dimming their already slim hopes in the wild-card race. They closed the month with another loss, to San Francisco as they opened their current home stand at Petco Park.
Perhaps, though, things could take a turn in September, as the Padres took the second game of the four-game set 7-3.
Michael Wacha went six innings, striking out six and giving up two runs to improve to 11-2. The Giants’ Wilmer Flores tagged him with a solo home run in the first, but the Padres quickly struck back with their own long balls.
After just three batters stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning, they held a 3-1 lead, thanks to a two-run shot by Fernando Tatis Jr., with Ha-Seong Kim on, and a solo homer by Juan Soto. They added one more run in the second and two in the third on the way to their third win in their last 10 games.
So the Friars bounced back yet again, but can they keep it going?
“That’s not the problem,” manager Bob Melvin told 97.3 the Fan of Padre rebounds. “It’s sustaining it afterwards.”
Meanwhile, Yu Darvish, on the injured list since Monday, found out Thursday that he is suffering from a bone spur in his right elbow, according to MLB.com. That leaves the Padres without two of their best starters – Joe Musgrove continues to rest his right shoulder – with precious little of the season remaining.
The team, with 26 games left, have just 11 of them at home.
Darvish though, is holding out hope for a return and Musgrove has begun to play catch after a month of being sidelined.
The Padres are set to send Blake Snell to the mound Saturday with Seth Lugo to follow Sunday.
