Mike Shildt Says Padres Need to Figure Out 'Stingy' Opponents

Padres haven't started the way anyone would have hoped.

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres were outmatched for the second game in a row as they fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Saturday. The Phillies took a 2-0 lead early in the first inning, before adding three more runs in the fifth. Phillies' Alec Bohm and Trea Turner got the better of Padres starter Dylan Cease with Turner notching three hits and two runs as Bohm hit a home run and four RBIs.

Phillies' starter Ranger Suárez also proved dominant in this matchup. He pitched for eight whole innings and allowed just three hits, zero walks, and one run while striking out eight hitters. That run did not come until the eighth inning, when Eguy Rosario mustered one home run for the Padres. The Padres could barely get on base, and the lineup had one of their worst games of the season.

Overall, the Padres were outdone both offensive and defensively. After the game, Padres manager Mike Shildt reflected on why 'figuring out' these kinds of opponents will be key for the Padres.

“Games like that, those are the kind of games we expect to play in October that we’re going to need to figure out,” Shildt said, via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “They’re the next steps, when there’s a stingy opponent.”

Figuring out these opponents is an understatement for if the Padres do want to play October baseball. With this loss, the Padres have now lost three straight and are 14-16 overall.

“I mean, surgical is the best way of saying it," Shildt added. "You’re talking about, we don’t like it, but we also got to respect it, we’ve got to compete against it and figure out a way. That’s what winners do.”

The Padres take on the Phillies once more Sunday before hosting the Cincinnati Reds.

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