New guys deliver, 'pen falters and more homestand takeaways

SAN DIEGO -- A winning homestand in their grasp, the Padres squandered a four-run lead on Tuesday afternoon in an 8-6 loss to the D-backs. After an 0-2 start, they’ll settle for .500 this week, while lamenting what could have been.

“Given how we started, I would definitely say it ended up pretty good,” said shortstop Xander Bogaerts. “But obviously, winning today would have been a nice flight going to Atlanta.”

A few takeaways from San Diego’s season-opening six-game homestand:

1. X marks the spot
It’s hard to envision a better start for Bogaerts as a San Diego Padre. In fact, his first six games with the club rank among the franchise’s best debuts.

Bogaerts opened his Friars tenure with a six-game hitting streak, and he’s gone deep in three of those games -- including a two-run missile into the left-field seats on Tuesday afternoon.

“I love not having a big wall,” quipped Bogaerts, who spent the first 10 years of his career playing his home games at Fenway Park.

Bogaerts is 9-for-22 with three homers and three doubles across those first six games. His 21 total bases are second in franchise history through a player’s first six games. Only Carlos Quentin (31 in 2012) had more.

2. The Padres might have a bullpen problem (for now)
The relief corps gave up late leads in both games against the D-backs this week. On Monday, that was negated by a historic set of back-to-back home runs. On Tuesday, no such comeback was in the offing.

Yu Darvish battled through five innings of one-run ball without anything close to his best stuff. Still, the Padres led 5-1 when they handed the ball to their bullpen in the sixth -- and things quickly unraveled.

“We didn’t play well defensively, and we didn’t throw enough strikes,” manager Bob Melvin said.

A recipe for disaster.

Indeed, San Diego’s defense did it no favors. David Dahl misplayed a sinking liner from Geraldo Perdomo into a double, leading to three Arizona runs in the sixth. In the eighth, Matt Carpenter couldn’t handle Perdomo’s squeeze bunt, and the D-backs broke out for four and took the lead.

But neither Nabil Crismatt nor Luis García was particularly sharp in those frames. If it feels like the Padres’ bullpen is stretched a bit thin , well, that’s because it is. They’re still awaiting the returns of Drew Pomeranz and Robert Suarez, two pitchers whose presence in the late innings would go a long way.

3. Trouble in the running game
The Padres’ bullpen surrendered far too many baserunners -- never a good idea against this D-backs team.

“These guys, man, they put so much pressure on you on the basepaths,” Bogaerts said. “I think today was a … day where they kind of exposed us a little bit. Just constant pressure.”

In total, Arizona swiped five bases on Tuesday, including four in the eighth against García. The D-backs also forced García into a throwing error and constantly took the extra bag.

“We [have] just got to be better with the run game,” catcher Austin Nola said. “We're just going to have to keep figuring it out as it goes.”

There’s blame to go around. Plus, the new rules have placed an emphasis on speed, and stolen-base success rates have skyrocketed. Still, Melvin noticed an unsettling trend among his pitchers.

“We’ve got to be a little bit quicker to the plate,” he said. “We had some guys that weren’t at times today.”

4. The bench was a weakness; now it’s a strength
Dahl launched a game-tying pinch-hit homer in the ninth on Monday. A day later, after Manny Machado was ejected in the first for arguing a pitch timer violation, Nelson Cruz entered and swatted his first home run as a Padre in the fourth.

Last season, the Friars’ bench left plenty to be desired. They played three rounds in the postseason and almost never used it. That’s no longer the case.

“We have a pretty good lineup and the guys on the bench, also. We all stay ready for any situation,” Cruz said.

After the game, Cruz was informed that -- at 42 years, 277 days old -- he was the second-oldest Padre to hit a homer, trailing only Rickey Henderson, who was six days older when he went deep in 2001.

“I’m old, then,” Cruz said with a laugh. “I’ve been blessed to be able to still play, doing what I love. It’s priceless.”