Padres end Cristopher Sánchez's scoreless streak, can't stop their own losing streak

PHILADELPHIA - The Padres ended Cristopher Sánchez's historic streak.

Their own dismal streaks go on.

“Is this the movie ‘Groundhog Day’?” Padres manager Craig Stammen said late Wednesday night.

He had many reasons to be lamenting the same thing occurring repeatedly.

The Padres lost a one-run game to the Phillies for the second night in a row and the third time in 10 days. They lost a fourth consecutive game and lost for the eighth time in nine games.

On Wednesday, a 3-2 loss happened for the second night in a row when one of the team’s highest-leverage relievers allowed a tie to become a deficit.

An inning after the Padres scored the first run any team had against Sánchez since April, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber homered to score the first runs against Jason Adam since April.

“I was not good enough,” said Adam, who second-guessed the types of pitches he threw more than the location. “I’ve got to make better pitches.”

Jeremiah Estrada allowed a run in the sixth inning in Tuesday's loss after taking over a 2-2 game from starter Randy Vásquez.

It was the second homer off Adam, who had worked 12⅓ scoreless innings over his previous 14 games, that doomed the Padres.

The Padres were able to get back just one of the runs, loading the bases in the eighth inning on singles by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Miguel Andujar and a walk by Gavin Sheets and scoring when reliever Brad Keller hit Xander Bogaerts with a pitch. The bottom of the order went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against Phillies closer Jhoan Duran.

“It sucks,” Adam said. “They grinded. That’s some really good pitching on the other side tonight. Walker (Buehler) shoved. He put us in a position to win the ballgame. Anytime you don’t do your job, it sucks.”

Buehler, the Padres’ starter, turned in arguably his finest outing of the season, allowing just one run on a pair of fifth-inning doubles.

On many nights pitching for many teams, allowing just that damage on a total of four hits and a pair of walks (one intentional) in six innings would have been enough for Buehler to win.

On Wednesday, backed up by one of the major leagues' least-potent offenses going against one of the major leagues' best starting pitchers on an historic run, it was not.

Sánchez, who shut out the Padres for seven innings a week earlier at Petco Park, extended his scoreless streak to 50⅔ innings, the fifth longest stretch in MLB history. And he came within an out of joining Orel Hershiser (1988) and Don Drysdale (1968) as the only pitchers to ever throw at least seven scoreless innings over six consecutive starts.

But with two down in the seventh, Ty France turned on an 0-1 changeup at his shins and grounded it just inside third base and to the corner in left field for a double. Jackson Merrill, who had lined out and struck out in his previous at-bats, then watched a sinker in the heart of the strike zone before getting another belt-high sinker on the inner edge of the plate and grounding it through the hole at shortstop.

As it rolled toward left fielder Brandon Marsh, France rounded third and headed for home, where he slid headfirst across the plate well before the wide throw reached Realmuto.

“I never felt so bad getting an RBI before,” Merrill recalled telling Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper.

As the crowd showered Sánchez with a standing ovation that lasted long enough that Jase Bowen’s at-bat was delayed, Merrill and Sánchez shared a quick glance and exchanged smiles.

“He's nasty,” said Merrill, who went 3-for-6 in the two games against Sánchez. “All credit to him. It’s insanely impressive.”

There wasn’t much else for the Padres to find pleasure in as they fell to four games above .500 (32-28) for the first time since they were 10-6 on April 12.

In Thursday afternoon's series finale, they will attempt to avoid going 0-6 against the Phillies this season.

“We played a good game,” France said. “Pitchers duel. Walker threw the ball really well. We knew it was a tough task going against (Sánchez). But overall I thought we put together good at-bats. And after 50-plus innings we were able to scratch a run across. Obviously, didn’t end the way we wanted."

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM.