SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres ran out a lineup Thursday that resembled one of the many off-brand assemblages they put on the field for so many years (decades) of irrelevance.
The difference in this instance was they possessed the third-best record in the National League and had a Cy Young contender on the mound.
But on a night he was working with his slimmest margin for error, Joe Musgrove had his first bad game of the season.
The Philadelphia Phillies scored several games worth of runs against Musgrove in the sixth inning and beat the Padres 6-2 at Petco Park.
Until it unraveled quickly with the Phillies’ two homers, two singles and a double in the sixth, manager Bob Melvin’s lineup gambit appeared as if it might work.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead on Eric Hosmer’s second-inning home run, and Musgrove did not allow a hit until Didi Gregorius grounded a single through the right side with one out in the fifth inning.
Gregorius advanced to second base on a wild pitch scored on Odubel Herrera’s single.
Kyle Schwarber’s two-run homer just beyond the wall in center field and J.T. Realmuto’s three-run homer just over the wall in right made it 6-1 in the sixth.
Musgrove (8-1) entered the game with a 1.59 ERA, second in the major leagues. He had allowed a total of three runs in his previous five starts (34 innings). He had given up more than two runs just twice in 12 starts this season and never more than two earned runs.
It was unfortunate timing because Thursday’s Padres lineup was not comprised to mount a sizable comeback.
With Manny Machado sidelined by an ankle injury and Melvin deeming it prudent to give Jake Cronenworth and Luke Voit a day off, the Padres had almost as many players (three) in the starting lineup batting under .200 as they did (four) batting above .250.
After a single by Trent Grisham and double by Austin Nola, Phillies starter Ranger Suarez was lifted with one out in the eighth. Jorge Alfaro’s groundout drove in the Padres’ final run.
