Padres feeling 'sense of urgency' after lopsided loss

SAN DIEGO -- To say that the Padres are scuffling would be an understatement.

With Michael Wacha producing an uncharacteristically rough outing after a great start his last turn, San Diego fell to the Brewers, 11-2, on Friday night at Petco Park. And the issue is that Friday felt like Thursday, when the Padres delivered another spotty performance.

Those two clunkers came on the heels of losing two of three to the Mets in New York. So now seems like the time to start wondering what’s going on with a team that, by all accounts, won the offseason with a series of blockbuster moves that had expectations sky high in San Diego.

Fifteen games into the season, the Padres (7-8) have yet to generate some momentum in the early going, and they’re left scratching their heads on what’s gone wrong -- or more importantly, how to fix it.

The fans are getting restless with the talent-heavy squad dropping four of its past five games. The players are preaching patience. The manager is giving credit to the other side.

“It’s just a really hot team right now,” Bob Melvin said of the Brewers. “They’re swinging good, they’re pitching good, they’re doing everything right.

“And the balls that [Wacha] threw over the plate, they made him pay for it, especially early in the game, and that gets you on the run a little bit.”

It was clear from the get-go that Friday wasn’t Wacha’s night. For the first time in 207 career regular-season starts, the right-hander allowed four extra-base hits in an inning, when the Brewers ambushed him with a four-run, four-double first frame.

Oddly, Wacha (2-1) was coming off a winning outing in which he tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts over six scoreless innings against the Braves. He allowed two hits in Atlanta, a total which was equaled by the time Wacha faced his third batter on Friday.

Another quirk was that he was going against the Brewers, to whom he had never lost in six career decisions.

Despite those factors working in Wacha’s favor, he struggled. Before he was pulled by Melvin after 4 1/3 innings, Wacha surrendered seven runs on 11 hits (two homers) and a walk, throwing 57 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

“It just didn’t go my way and you just have to do better out there,” Wacha said.

Wacha’s 3.00 ERA entering his third start of the season more than doubled (6.06) by the time he handed the ball to his manager.

Only twice in Wacha’s career had he given up more than seven runs. Only once had he been touched for more than 11 hits.

“Just too many mistakes and leaving the ball over the middle,” Wacha said. “They hit all of the mistakes and got to some of my pitches that were well-located.”

Meanwhile, the Padres’ offense continues to struggle. San Diego’s hitters entered the game with a team batting average of .225, which was better than only three teams.

“It’s just a matter of time, but there also has to be a sense of urgency,” Melvin said. “We’ve had a couple of good offensive games, but we probably should have more -- and I know we will.

“Based on the team that we put together, the expectations are so high and we just haven’t been consistent offensively. I expect us to hit our stride sooner than later.”

One night after journeyman Colin Rea turned the Padres away, lefty Eric Lauer (2-1) baffled his former team. The Padres managed one run on five hits over the soft-throwing Lauer’s six innings of work.

José Azocar, who had two of the Padres’ hits, was stranded after a two-out double in the third. Manny Machado and Juan Soto opened the fourth with walks, but neither advanced past second base.

Luis Campusano hit his first home run of the season in the fifth.

Machado singled in the sixth, an inning which also featured a Nelson Cruz double. But a double play and a Ha-Seong Kim strikeout quickly doused that uprising.

San Diego’s most effective pitcher of the night? Brandon Dixon, a utility player, who retired the Brewers in order in the ninth with pitches that didn’t eclipse 52 mph.

What’s evident after a week of uneven production is that the Padres need to get up to speed.

“These are the ones that you’ve just got to push away,” Melvin said. “And come back the next day and, you know, expect to win.”