PHILADELPHIA -- New day. Same story. The offense started slow, the bullpen struggled to keep the game within reach and the result remained familiar as the San Diego Padres fell 6-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
In the last nine days, the Padres have dropped six straight games to the Phillies, marking Philadelphia's first season-series sweep of San Diego since 2005.
Similar to the 2005 Padres team that won the NL West with an 82-80 record before being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, this year's club has struggled to generate offense. Through 61 games, San Diego ranks last in batting average, total bases and runs batted in, highlighting a persistent lack of production at the plate.
The offensive woes have contributed to one of the Padres' worst stretches in nearly five years. San Diego has dropped nine of its last 10 games and fallen into a tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for second place in the NL West at 32-29. The last time the Padres endured a 10-game stretch this poor came in September 2021, when they lost 15 of 17 games during a late-season collapse that saw the team finish four games under the .500 mark.
During the 1-9 stretch, San Diego has failed to score more than four runs in each of the nine losses and averaged 2.6 runs per game.
Zack Wheeler made his eighth start of the season, firing seven innings and allowing two runs and striking out eight. Since returning from thoracic outlet surgery in late April, the veteran right-hander has helped Philadelphia form a strong 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, going 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 50.2 innings.
Lucas Giolito countered Wheeler in his fourth start as a Padre, suffering his first loss after tossing four-plus innings and surrendering two runs on six hits. The right-hander struck out five and walked one before being pulled in the fifth after an Adolis Garcia solo homer and Justin Crawford first-pitch double.
San Diego's scoring in Thursday's series finale came off the bats of Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill, who each launched two-run home runs. Machado's 411-foot blast marked a team-high 11th of the season and trimmed the Philadelphia lead down to 3-2.
That was mashed. pic.twitter.com/wQvHTCd1yC
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 4, 2026
San Diego reliever Adrian Morejon entered the game in the bottom of the seventh looking to keep the deficit at one. Unfortunately for San Diego, a walk, throwing error by catcher Freddy Fermin and three singles led to three Philadelphia runs — extending the lead to four. The outing marked the first time Morejon has allowed three or more earned runs since April 7, when he allowed four to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Merrill cut the deficit in half with his sixth home run of the season in the ninth, but the late rally fell short as San Diego dropped its fourth straight game.
The 10-game stretch that began against the Athletics on May 24 has seen San Diego plummet from 0.5 to 7.5 games back of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. San Diego returns home for a three-game series against the New York Mets, kicking off Friday night at Petco Park.
Michael King (4-4, 3.18 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for San Diego as Christian Scott (1-0, 2.97 ERA) counters for New York. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. PT.