Tatis bounces back, but Padres need better results on the scoreboard

PHOENIX -- The Padres came into this weekend’s series in Arizona with a golden opportunity to climb in the National League Wild Card race.

And it went to waste.

The Padres fell to the D-backs 5-4 Sunday afternoon at Chase Field, dropping a crucial series. San Diego has now lost seven of its last nine games. That’s not the tone the club wanted to set, especially with this upcoming month being a make-it-or-break-it period for the Padres.

“We've had some tough losses this year,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “This is probably as tough a loss as we've had based on where we are, who we're playing and what every game means right now.”

“We haven’t been playing the way we were capable of playing,” Manny Machado said. “I’m going to keep repeating that as much as I can because it’s the truth, there’s no hiding that.”

San Diego will play 23 games in the next 24 days, with 17 of those games against other teams battling for a spot in the National League Wild Card.

Here is a look at what went right and what went wrong this weekend.

Trade acquisitions not living up to potential
When you make moves at the Trade Deadline, especially in the position the Padres are in, you expect those new players to be key contributors during the playoff chase.

That hasn’t been the case for the Padres.

After Rich Hill’s rough start on Saturday, he’s gone 6 1/3 innings and allowed 11 hits and nine runs in his first two starts with the Padres.

Scott Barlow has given up seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Ji-Man Choi and Garrett Cooper have gone a combined 2-for-24 -- and Cooper has both of those hits.

“It is not down to one or two guys,” Melvin said. “It's about the entire team, the entire 26-man roster.”

Bullpen continues to struggle
The bullpen’s struggles continue to show for the Padres, which was a big reason why they lost on Sunday.

Nick Martinez, who has floated between being a starter and reliever, gave up a two-run game-tying home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Robert Suarez gave up the game-winning run.

Outside of Pedro Avila’s deep outing on Saturday night, the bullpen pitched five innings, giving up six earned runs. The saving grace of Josh Hader is usually lights-out in the bullpen, but it’s hard to get to him if the people pitching in front of him can’t keep it close.

Tatis bounces back after a tough streak
Fernando Tatis Jr. was having one of the roughest stretches of his young career, but perhaps a trip to the desert was all he needed to turn things around.

Tatis had slash line of .165/.218/.301 since the All-Star break. He turned it around in Phoenix, and finished by going 5-for-13 and knocked in two runs, including the first run of Sunday's contest.

“I was just trying to be very picky with myself this last series, just for the results overall in general that I was having,” Tatis said. “So, just being very picky on myself and just overseeing every single detail, and I feel like it helped a little bit.”

Before this weekend, Tatis’ last trip to Chase Field was when he made his anticipated return from an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

That was back on April 20. At the time, there were plenty of questions that loomed for the superstar.

Time has come and gone, and Tatis has more than shown that he can still perform at a high level. Prior to the All-Star break, Tatis had a slash line of .288/.346/.525 with an OPS of .871 with 16 home runs. Rough stretches are bound to happen, but it’s about how you respond to it that separates a good player from a great player.

Tatis, along with the rest of his teammates, will need to raise the intensity in the next couple of weeks. Despite the recent struggles, the Padres are just 5 1/2 games back from a Wild Card spot.

“Everything is possible, but we need results,” Tatis said. “It’s a[s] simple as that.”