Padres pregame: Slumping Sung-Mun Song starts against Mets' Nolan McLean

The Padres have endured six-game losing streaks en route to the postseason before.

They lost six in a row last year in mid-May before going on to win a wild-card spot, but they haven't lost seven in a row since late September in 2021, when they were as high as 18 games over .500 on Aug. 10 and had the floor fall out beneath them en route to stumbling to a 79-win season.

The 2026 Padres may not be there yet, but they know they need to halt their six-game losing streak in Saturday's 7:10 p.m. start against the New York Mets on Padres.TV.

The current skid has dropped the Padres a full eight games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Before losing six in a row and 10 of 11, the Padres were a half-game out of first in the division.

Now?

They trail the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks in the NL West and are a half-game out of the NL's third wild-card spot.

Against Mets right-hander Nolan McLean, Sung-Mun Song will start a second straight game at second base and hit eighth.

Song is hitting .138/.265/.172 across 34 plate appearances, with two of his four hits coming while making his first MLB start on May 5. He is hitting .080/.233/.080 in sporadic action since then, went 0-for-3 on Friday and hasn't had a hit since May 16.

Song at second base allows Fernando Tatis Jr. to start in right field for the fourth time in the last six games. Tatis (.660 OPS) remains the leadoff hitter, while center fielder Jackson Merrill (.611 OPS) is in the two-hole for just the second time this season after spending much of the last three weeks hitting fifth or lower in the lineup.

Merrill was 0-for-4 on Friday but has two homers while hitting .267/.333/.500 over his last eight games.

First baseman Ty France (.842 OPS) will bat third, followed by third baseman Manny Machado (.617 OPS), whose .175 batting average is the second worst among MLB qualifiers.

Left fielder Gavin Sheets (.788 OPS) will bat fifth, followed by shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.653 OPS) and designated hitter Miguel Andujar (.718 OPS).

Freddy Fermin (.392 OPS) will catch and bat ninth.

Here is how the Mets (28-35, 5th in NL East) will line up for Game 2 in San Diego:

Saturday’s pitching matchup

Mets RHP Nolan McLean (3-4, 4.21 ERA)

The 24-year-old rookie's ERA is more than double what it was while debuting last year (2.06 over 48 IP), but he's still struck out 134 over 114⅓ innings to start his career. He's got a 3.83 ERA in nine career starts on the road. McLean had a 9.00 ERA over three starts (16 IP) before allowing a run in five innings in a win last week against Miami. This is his first appearance against the Padres.

No current Padres have history with McLean.

Padres RHP Griffin Canning (0-4, 7.16 ERA)

The former Met has allowed at least three runs in his last five starts (8.34 ERA) and pitched deeper than five innings just once. He has a 27-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio but has been better at home (5.57 ERA) than on the road (12.15 ERA). Canning has a 1.50 ERA in two career starts (12 IP) against the Mets, the last in 2024 (5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER).

Only five Mets have history with Canning:

• 2B Marcus Semien (9-for-30, 2B, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, BB, 6 Ks)
• 3B/SS Bo Bichette (1-for-5, K)
• 3B Mark Vientos (0-for-5, 4 Ks)
• OF MJ Melendez (3-for-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBIs, BB, K)
• OF Juan Soto (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs)

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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 4:52 PM.