Pair of misplays costly in tight loss in Seattle

SEATTLE -- A pair of misplayed opportunities by Wil Myers in left field ultimately made the difference in a tightly-contested, 3-2 Padres loss to the Mariners on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. But their silent offense was arguably just as much the culprit.

San Diego hasn’t won a series since the All-Star break exactly one month ago, and it suffered two of its more deflating defeats of the season over its past three games. The Padres also dropped to seven games out of the second National League Wild Card spot, with six clubs ahead of them.

Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a first-inning homer, which extended his hit streak to 11 games, and Francisco Mejia dug out another solo shot in the sixth. But that’s all that the Padres could muster against a Mariners pitching staff that turned to left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi, who entered play 1-7 with a 7.65 ERA and .347 batting average against in his previous 12 starts.

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This all despite the Padres boasting a lineup that has proven to be among the most lethal against lefties. Tatis had an MLB-best .507 on-base percentage against southpaws, while Manny Machado had an NL-best 1.276 OPS against them and Hunter Renfroe had a 1.031 mark.

Yet the Padres struck out 13 times on Wednesday, bringing their second-half strikeout rate to 25.5 percent. Myers, Machado, Eric Hosmer and Renfroe -- the club’s Nos. 2-5 hitters -- combined for 11 of those their 13, and the quartet reached base just twice over 16 at-bats, while battling awkward shadows as a byproduct of a late-afternoon start.

“I think the guys are out there battling. Nobody is really upbeat after a loss,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “Overall, though, you're close in every single game that you're playing. You're winning games and you're right on the cusp of winning the other ones. Frustrated? Yeah, sure. But I think overall, guys are battling and in a good spot.”

Myers’ misplays could’ve perhaps been less glaring had he and the rest of the lineup created more run production.

His game-deciding miscue came in the eighth when he came up short on a fly ball by Mallex Smith that allowed Smith to reach and eventually score on a fielder’s choice to break a 2-2 tie. Myers also misjudged a play in the second inning that had a Statcast-projected 99 percent catch probability, but it turned into a triple for Tom Murphy, who eventually scored. Both plays led off the inning, which allowed Myers to be more liberal with no runners on.

“It was two runs right there,” Myers said. “Obviously, if I play those as singles, the game would've been a lot different. If I make those two plays, it's also different, so right there, you've got to stay aggressive. I had a good read on the second one. It just kind of popped out, and the other one, just missed it off the end.”

The Padres preach their faith in Myers as a corner outfielder, and they will operate on a rotation with Myers, Josh Naylor and Manuel Margot as matchups dictate after trading Franmil Reyes to the Indians last week.

But Myers’ defensive metrics illuminate that he’s experienced struggles. Myers’ minus-6 Defensive Runs Saved rank is tied for ninth-worst among 58 qualified outfielders, and his minus-2.4 Ultimate Zone Rating is 17th lowest. As a team, the Padres rank in the middle of the pack in each category.

“You want him to try to make those plays. I think he's got the capacity to make those plays,” Green said. “He just didn't come up with them today and they were plays that hurt us in the end. But he's giving everything he's got trying to make that play. If he thinks he can make the catch, we want him aggressive. Ultimately with Wil we want him to take the chances out there and to be aggressive.”

Myers, who went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts, has shown offensive strides, with a .353/.389/.529 slash line over his previous nine games before Wednesday. But his season line of .227/.318/.399 is on pace for a career worst in each category, and the converted first baseman is due $22.5 million in each of the next three seasons.

Trading Reyes -- who had an .849 OPS and 27 homers with the Padres, but was defensively inferior -- in part shows that the Padres are banking on Myers steering in a more positive direction, at the plate and in the field.

“Baseball is tough at times,” Myers said. “You run through a stretch where it's tough and you just keep battling back. We could have a 10-game stretch where we're right back in the thick of things, and that's what you're waiting on. I feel like we're getting close.”