Padres Notes: National Embarrassment, Machado Owns Up to Struggles, Soto OK After Collision

The Friars dropped a gimme series against the Nationals.

Padres fans will be going to bed Sunday night with a bit of ire in their hearts after San Diego inexplicably struggled in their final two games against Washington en route to dropping the series.

The loss comes at a crucial time as the Padres look to finish the first half of the season strong; they will now enter the All-Star break with a losing record.

In other news, Manny Machado spoke to the media and defended the Padres' hitting coaching staff while the San Diego offense has struggled from the plate. Juan Soto caught a deep out in Sunday's loss and ran full speed against the outfield wall, but was able to recover and finish the game.

Check out some of the headlines from the weekend!

Juan Soto Avoids Injury After Slamming Into Wall at Petco Park

Manny Machado Praises Hitting Coaches, Holds Himself Accountable on Results

Insider Provides Updates on Key Friar Players

Matt Waldron Immediately Optioned to Minors After Stellar Debut

Our Favorite Padres Tweets Today

The Padres current record to date (this year) is exactly the same as the 2019 Nationals at the same point of the season when they won the World Series. As the telecast is pointing out. pic.twitter.com/fzVxepDFhM

— Mickey Koke (@mickeykoke) June 25, 2023

Tatis ties it up!#BringTheGold pic.twitter.com/l1T0boiVKI

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 25, 2023

All Matt Waldron knuckleballs thrown yesterday. 13 pitches: 9 strikes, 1 whiff, hitters 0 for 3. He was great in AA last year, but in 30 AAA games (28 starts) he's got an ERA of 7.74. Padres clearly see something they like in him, though. Hope he gets to see the MLB mound again. pic.twitter.com/PQZU9eISv6

— Nails (@NailsRouse) June 25, 2023