Padres need more from starting pitchers in stretch run

SAN DIEGO -- It’s been 10 days since the Padres finished their series against the Dodgers tied for first place in the National League West. An ugly 10 days. In that span, San Diego has dropped three straight series, including a sweep at the hands of the Orioles, capped by Wednesday’s 7-5 loss at Petco Park.

The culprit for that downturn? Poor starting pitching. In the nine games since that Dodgers series, Padres starters are averaging fewer than 3 2/3 innings per start. They’ve combined to post a 7.52 ERA. Ouch.

There’s no disputing what needs to change for the Padres as they enter the season’s stretch run. They need more from their starting pitchers -- both in terms of length and quality. The question is how they can get more.

On some level, the solutions are simple: Get Michael King back from injury, get Dylan Cease pitching like the guy who finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting last year. If they can check those two boxes, the Padres have a formidable front end of a playoff rotation -- counting Nick Pivetta, who has been excellent this season.

But it’s not that simple. First of all, King’s health and Cease’s consistency cannot be counted upon. (Not yet, at least.) And beyond that, the Padres’ rotation options have seriously underwhelmed.

“We’ve just got to do a better job, plain and simple,” said lefty Nestor Cortes, who was hit hard on Wednesday. “We’ve got to try and get deeper into games, especially me. Two innings, three innings ain’t going to cut it in this league. Just got to be better.”

Cortes allowed four home runs on Wednesday, including back-to-back-to-back homers in the top of the third inning. It marked the second time this season that Cortes has allowed three straight homers. Per Elias, since 1900, the only other pitcher to do so multiple times in the same season was Don Newcombe in 1957.

After the last of those homers, Cortes exited with the Padres trailing 6-0, amid a chorus of boos. He understood the sentiment.

“I would have booed myself, too, watching this game,” Cortes said.

Of course, any team can tolerate a short start here and there. But the repetitive nature of these poor outings from Padres starters has begun to take its toll on the bullpen.

On Wednesday, that bullpen was excellent. In fact, Mason Miller was immaculate, tossing the second immaculate inning in franchise history with three strikeouts on nine straight sliders in the eighth. But that ‘pen has been overworked during this stretch, and the offense is consistently trying to climb its way out of holes.

“We’re scuffling,” Miller said. “There’s no way around it. I think it’s just about putting together a complete game right now. … That consistency is not there right now. So it’s [about] finding a way to get back to that. Obviously we know that it’s in there.”

Behind that strong effort from the bullpen, the Padres nearly mounted a late comeback. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. both went deep. But the late rally came up short.

That’s been the story for the Padres lately. They’ve dropped consecutive series against Seattle, Minnesota and Baltimore. During that span, they’ve only twice held a lead beyond the fourth inning. Those are the two games they’ve won.

“It starts with: We need to be able to play with a lead, get to one of the strengths of the club -- the bullpen -- and keep those pieces in the right order,” manager Mike Shildt said.

It might soon get easier to do so. King is on his way back from a left knee injury and could return as soon as this weekend. If King looks like the version of himself who started Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series last year, it would go a long way.

Even still, the Padres need more from Cortes and Yu Darvish and especially Cease. Perhaps they won’t require much length from their starters come October, given the excess of off-days in the postseason. But amid the grind of the regular season -- with a division title and home-field advantage on the line -- they could sure use it now.

So how do they get more from their rotation on a consistent basis? Shildt was posed that question after Wednesday’s loss. He cited a need to eliminate walks and to better control the inner half of the plate to cut down on the home runs.

Easier said than done of course -- especially when the Padres’ next stop is Coors Field.