Padres drop another to Orioles, slip further behind Dodgers in NL West

San Diego, California – The calendar has turned to September, and the Padres suddenly find themselves staring down a stretch run that feels a lot less secure than it did just a week ago. With the playoffs four weeks away, there’s still time for San Diego to make a push — a run at the division, a shot at a first-round bye, or at the very least, home games at Petco Park come October. But after another stumble Tuesday night, that window is shrinking fast.

The Padres fell 6-2 to the Baltimore Orioles, their fourth loss in five days to a team outside the playoff picture. Less than two weeks ago, San Diego had pulled even with the Dodgers atop the NL West. Now, after three straight series losses, they’ve slid 2 ½ games back of Los Angeles.

Manager Mike Shildt didn’t sugarcoat it. “It’s a stretch,” he said. “Very uncharacteristic of this team.”

He’s right. For much of the season’s first five months, the Padres played sharp, disciplined baseball. That hasn’t been the case lately. On Tuesday, Yu Darvish issued two walks, hit two more batters, and saw a routine error by Jake Cronenworth turn costly. The little things, once San Diego’s strength, have been slipping.

The bright spot was the return of rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill, who missed two weeks with a sprained ankle. Merrill, who said the club has always found ways to grind through rough patches, expressed optimism. “We’d go through stretches when we’re not raking, we’re not the prettiest, but we’d just win games,” he said. “We’re going to find it again.”

But the challenges go beyond execution. Injuries have struck at the worst possible time. Xander Bogaerts fractured his left foot Friday and faces a four-to-six-week recovery, leaving his postseason status in doubt. On Monday came another blow: setup man Jason Adam ruptured a tendon in his left quadriceps. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, ending his season.

Meanwhile, the Orioles, mired in last place in the AL East, looked nothing like a team playing out the string. Emmanuel Rivera delivered two clutch two-run singles, finishing with four RBI. Tyler Wells, making his first big league start since April 2024 following elbow surgery, limited the Padres to two runs over five innings.

Luis Arraez briefly gave the crowd something to cheer with a two-run homer in the third, his seventh of the year, but San Diego never mounted much more. Baltimore rookie Jeremiah Johnson homered for the second straight night and drove in two runs.

The Padres have now dropped three straight and seven of their last nine. They remain a game ahead of the Mets for the second wild card, but that cushion is growing thinner.

There’s no panic yet, but the sense of urgency is real. The postseason is still very much in play. The division title, even the bye, remains within reach. But if the Padres are going to seize any of it, they need to rediscover the crisp baseball that carried them through most of this season — and they need to do it soon.