Padres News: Xander Bogaerts Feels Friars Left a Lot on the Table in Mediocre Road Trip
As the season has gone on, it has been more of the same for the San Diego Padres. They look good one day and then fall back into their old habits the next. This all showed up again over the team’s 10-game road trip to start the second half of the season as the Friars went 5-5.
They started slow, dropping three of four to the Philadelphia Phillies, but rebounded to take two series against the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.
But after a .500 road trip that kept them right where things started to open the second half, the Padres are looking for more answers.
They headed home for a home stand against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and already lost the first game in 8-4 fashion.
“The story continues with a lot of tough losses,” said shortstop Xander Bogaerts. “Going back to Philly, every game it seemed like we were in it. … This road trip could’ve gone much better than the way it played out. And, yeah, that sucks.”
The Padres have been trying to get back into contention all season long, and every time they think they have a spark, it goes away. It happened during the road trip and has become an underlining theme of their season so far.
The Friars know that time isn’t on their side, but they aren’t giving up. Manager Bob Melvin knows that his team needs to start winning games, and quickly.
“We’re way past [looking at] trips and series,” Melvin said. “It’s all about winning games. Today was a key game for us. We win this game, and the whole road trip, whenever it started, looks a lot better than it did.”
San Diego has been one of the biggest disappointments this season, and if they can’t turn things around, it will go down as one of the biggest letdowns in baseball history. Nobody wants to be on that side of history, but the Padres are looking at that reality if they don’t turn things around.
