Joe Musgrove Breaks Down 'Frustrating' Performance in Padres Loss

San Diego's ace gave up eight hits in 5.2 innings of work.

Mar 29, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove (44) throws / Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres dropped their second game of the homestand against their division rivals, the San Francisco Giants, on Saturday. The Padres dropped the game 8-3, and a huge part of it involved Joe Musgrove's outing.

Musgrove isn't having a hot start to the season, and Friday's outing showed that. He struggled with location all game long, resulting in his first loss of the season. After the game, he spoke with reporters, including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune. Musgrove detailed what went wrong in his latest outing.

“Just location,” Musgrove said. “It’s frustrating, nights like that. I felt really good tonight. Body felt good. I felt like I was moving good. Action was good on the pitches. ... It’s something I gotta address. I’ve got to make some adjustments and find out what it is — if it is just location based or if I’m not sequencing things right.”

The 31-year-old allowed eight hits and four earned runs with only three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. The hits came early and often, as the Giants scored half of their runs with Musgrove on the mound. This included a two-run bomb by Matt Chapman in the first inning, a single by Thairo Estrada to drive in another one, and a single by Jung Hoo Lee to drive in one more in the fourth inning.

The offense didn't help much. While the Friars collected nine hits, that only resulted in three runs. Friday night could have been better for Musgrove and the Padres. The team will look to get back above .500 on Saturday.