It was the best of times and the worst of times for Manny Machado Friday, as the Padres’ skid continued in their 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the 3rd inning, with the Padres trailing by three, he launched a laser of a home run to left – at 119.6 mph, the fastest recorded by a Padres hitter, according to MLB – that made the score 3-2.
But then came the eighth, after the Phillies added a run to lead 4-2.
The Padres mounted a rally, loading the bases on a single and two walks to bring up Fernando Tatis Jr. Philly Ian Kennedy hit him with a pitch – in the head, but he rose to take his base – to force in a run and bring up Machado.
The slugger, though, on an 0-2 count, struck out on a high fastball. He had taken issue with a called strike earlier in the at-bat, and manager Jayce Tingler let home-plate umpire Doug Eddings have it, leading to his ejection.
With the rally over, Machado decided to jump on Eddings too, with the same result.
“We’re obviously frustrated with the zone,” Tingler said.
The frustrations are piling up for the Padres – they were 3-7 in their last 10 games entering Friday’s contest – and their slide has coincided with an eight-game winning streak by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who come to town Tuesday.
With the loss, they’ve also fallen into a tie for the second National League wild-card slot with the Cincinnati Reds.
Meanwhile, on the injury front, Jurickson Profar returned from the injured list, while newly signed pitcher Jake Arrieta is out due to a left hamstring strain. He suffered the injury in his Padre debut, a loss to Colorado, on Wednesday.
Joe Musgrove will try to change his team’s luck when he takes the mound for the Padres at 5:40 p.m. Saturday, facing the Phillies’ Aaron Nola.