SD 2, PIT 5: Padres take three more steps back in Pittsburgh

Well girls and boys, there goes the fifth straight. Although there was no rain delay, the day was very much the same. Early runs, hard pitching, tied game, blown lead, late-inning loss. With Justin Upton resting his All-Star obliques tonight, this series sweep from the Pirates comes in the form of three very-difficult to swallow losses, and ties a bow on a season that so far can best be described by this Bob Ross video.

The dark times followed Andrew Cashner into the 7th inning, despite a very strong start much like his peers James Shields and Tyson Ross. Cash went a good 7.2 innings until the end of his rope, and ended up giving the Pirated 4 earned runs in 3 hits, issuing two walks and striking out five. His counterpart, Charlie Morton, and the Pittsburgh bullpen keeping the Padres to a safe 2 runs. Meanwhile, Brandon Maurer, a typical stud, allowed another run to seal the score at 5-2.

Those two Padres runs came from Matt Kemp's seventh home run of the 2015 season, another 2-out RBI, and a Melvin Upton Jr. RBI-double in the first two innings of the game. For the rest of the night, the Padres would go 0-5 with RISP leaving a good 8 runners stranded. The Friars were held to just five hits all night, while Will Venable, pinch-hitting Clint Barms, Upton Jr., and Cashner patiently drew some walks. All for naught, as the rest of the lineup was never able to capitalize.

The Pads will get a quick chance to unwind their head on the way to Texas, as they take on the Rangers for one last series before the All-Star break. Huge speculation, rumors, and hearsay swirl the fate of the roster awaits for the team emerging the day after the All-Star Game.

Game threads are slowly going to turn into a support group at this rate.