SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. apologized. Juan Soto was scratched.
The Padres had two more hits and two fewer runs than the Guardians in a 3-1 loss Tuesday night at Petco Park.
Just another day in the Padres’ 2022 season.
Players heard from Tatis regarding his PED suspension in a clubhouse meeting early in the afternoon, at which point Soto was in the lineup. But as the game began, Wil Myers jogged out to right field. It was announced a few minutes later that Soto had been scratched with what the Padres called “mid back tightness.”
The Padres hold the third of three available National League wild-card playoff spots, a game ahead of the Brewers, who trailed the Dodgers 7-1 in the eighth inning Tuesday night.
Guardians starter Aaron Civale struggled to find the strike zone. But he did not allow a run until the fifth inning, when Austin Nola led off with a double, went to third on Jurickson Profar’s groundout and scored on a single flared the other way into left field by Jake Cronenworth.
After eking out consecutive 2-1 victories over the Nationals, the Padres paid the price for their listless offense Tuesday. They failed to score after having runners at first and second with one out in the first and seventh innings and with two outs in the fourth and eighth innings. The Padres finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Mike Clevinger allowed two hits in six innings — a two-out home run in the second inning by Oscar Gonzalez and a lead-off homer by Andres Gimenez in the fifth inning. Pitching against his former team, which traded him to the Padres in August 2020, the right-hander twice escaped unscathed after having a throw to hold a runner sail off-target and get past first baseman Josh Bell, allowing a runner to advance to second with less than two outs.
The Guardians added a run in the eighth when Steven Kwan walked and Amed Rosario singled with two outs against Luis Garcia and Jose Ramirez hit an RBI single off Tim Hill.
Unlike the Nationals, whose 41-83 record is the worst record in the major leagues, the Guardians are 65-56 and atop the American League Central.
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