Fill-in closer Matsui can't secure elusive sweep for Padres?

KANSAS CITY -- The Padres were on the verge of their first series sweep in 2024. But there was one problem and it was a big one.

Padres’ closer Robert Suarez wasn’t available Sunday after working the previous two games, closing out the Royals in each of them. Thus, San Diego manager Mike Shildt turned to left-hander Yuki Matsui and asked him to hold a two-run lead in the ninth.

Matsui couldn’t. The Royals needed just four batters to score three runs in the ninth, forcing the Padres to absorb a stinging 4-3 defeat that left them 0-5 in games that would have secured a sweep.

“Pretty much right as we scripted it, except for the very end,” Shildt said.

Being a Major League closer is a tough job description and Matsui felt he wasn’t on point with his pitches on Sunday. He had pitched scoreless baseball in his previous seven outings, but not as a closer.

“I feel bad for the team,” Matsui said through a translator. “My location was not there today. So, I feel bad for them.”

In retrospect, the Padres had to be thinking back to Friday night when they entered the ninth inning with an eight-run lead. The Royals put on a furious rally that forced Shildt to use Suarez, and then Suarez came in again on Saturday for his 17th save in as many tries.

While the Padres wound up winning on Friday, that 11-8 victory came at the expense of not having Suarez available on Sunday.

Shildt credited the Royals for that Friday comeback, which spilled over to Sunday’s final result.

“That’s the game, that’s part of it,” Shildt said. “When you play good baseball and take good at-bats consistently, you are going to create dominoes.”

Matsui started the ninth in a lefty-versus-lefty matchup against Vinnie Pasquantino, who lined a single to right.

Matsui then got ahead of Salvador Perez 0-2, but wound up walking him as the veteran catcher displayed strong plate discipline. Pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez followed with a booming two-run triple and Nick Loftin delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly.

The Padres had put themselves in position for a sweep with starter Michael King delivering seven strong innings. He allowed just one run on four hits and finished with 105 pitches (65 strikes) on a day when San Diego urgently needed length from its starter.

Reserve infielder Tyler Wade, who came on as a defensive replacement after Luis Arraez jammed his shoulder after an RBI single while advancing to second base on the throw home, ignited a two-run rally in the eighth with a leadoff single. Wade went all the way to third on Angel Zerpa’s errant pickoff throw and scored the go-ahead run on Fernando Tatis’ single. When Manny Machado came through with an RBI single for a 3-1 lead, the Padres were six outs away from that elusive sweep.

But a close lead can be precarious when the established closer isn’t available.

“It’s still a series win and that’s two of them in a row,” King said. “We just have to move on to L.A. [on Monday] and keep playing good baseball.”