Padres dropped – The Padres blew a six-run lead and lost 12-7 to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, extending a six-game losing streak to take them to .500 for the first time since April 8. Injuries and a bullpen under siege are making this 17 games in 17 days stretch feel unsusta
For the Padres, the night didn’t just slip away. It unraveled.
They opened with momentum—San Diego built an early six-run lead. then watched it disappear as the Dodgers surged back to win 12-7 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. The damage followed them even further than the final score. The Padres lost by 20 runs on Wednesday at Wrigley Field. and by the next night. things got worse in a way that left the season’s direction feeling suddenly fragile.
San Diego is now 43-43 and has dropped six straight, returning to .500 for the first time since April 8. Over the past two games, the Padres allowed 35 runs—by far the most for any two-game stretch in franchise history.
The loss also widened the gap in a playoff race that was already starting to feel tight. After Thursday’s defeat, the Padres are three games back of the final Wild Card spot.
“It’s a collective group effort,” second baseman Jake Cronenworth said. “That’s what it’s going to take. I think we’re .500 now. We’re not in the position we want to be in. We’ve got to do something about it. There’s got to be a sense of urgency.”
And the sense of urgency is being tested by the calendar. With their beleaguered pitching staff, San Diego still has to complete a stretch of 17 games in 17 days before the All-Star break. They have 10 more to go, including three more this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
If they don’t turn things around soon, the Padres could end up well outside the playoff picture by the end of the month—and that would inevitably complicate what happens next as the Trade Deadline approaches.
On the pitching front, the strain is already showing.
This isn’t just a tough stretch—it’s a pattern that’s becoming hard to sustain. Even before the schedule pressure, San Diego had entered play Thursday with the fourth fewest innings from their starting pitchers. During the first seven games of this stretch, none of the Padres pitchers have completed six innings.
The bullpen that has been one of the best in baseball this year is now paying the price. Recent injuries have hit that group hard, and it has left a rotation that can’t consistently give it the rest it needs. The rotation, in turn, has not been providing enough length.
“There were mitigating circumstances with Vásquez,” the team’s situation includes a key detail: Vásquez took a comebacker off his right ankle in the first inning and left after just 50 pitches. That could lead to further problems if Vásquez were to miss time.
Stammen acknowledged how difficult it is, but tried to keep the message pointed toward endurance.
“It’s pretty tough,” Stammen said. “But … I don’t think just because it’s happening right now means it’s going to happen forever. We’ll get through this tough stretch and hopefully get our bullpen in a better spot.”
On Thursday, the bullpen didn’t get much breathing room at all.
Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta—two middle-innings arms who have been reliable all season—were hit hard. Over their two innings on Thursday night, they allowed six runs, turning a Padres lead into something the Dodgers could flip quickly.
Still, even in a night defined by collapse, there was one bright spot that gave the Padres something to build on: Jake Cronenworth.
Cronenworth already looks different at the plate compared to the start of the season. After struggling early, his slump worsened in mid-April when he was hit by a pitch in the chin. He then went just 4-for-his-next-31.
What he didn’t realize at the time was that he was dealing with concussion effects.
After two months on the concussion IL, Cronenworth was activated Monday. In the time since, he’s started looking like the hitter San Diego has depended on.
He had three hits on Wednesday, then on Thursday he launched a three-run homer off Roki Sasaki in the top of the second inning, helping the Padres build a 6-0 lead.
Stammen tied that turnaround to how much of a struggle the early period really was.
“It’s nice to see him be the same Jake Cronenworth that we’ve known for the last six years,” Stammen said. “It shows you how much of a struggle he was going through early.”
Cronenworth’s homer gave the Padres the kind of lift they needed—but the lead was short-lived. The Dodgers overturned it by the bottom of the fourth inning, getting to Vásquez and Wandy Peralta.
The night still ended with San Diego chasing answers—on the mound, in the bullpen, and in how quickly a game can swing when the starting pitching doesn’t get enough outs. Yet Cronenworth’s return is at least proof that the offense isn’t completely out of tools.
Now the Padres have to survive the next stretch before the All-Star break, when every outing matters and every inning becomes heavier than the last. If they can’t stabilize, this skid won’t just be a run of losses—it will start reshaping what kind of season they can even salvage.
Padres Dodgers Jake Cronenworth Wandy Peralta Yuki Matsui Vásquez Roki Sasaki baseball injuries bullpen playoff race Wild Card