Padres Press Clips Thursday, July 9, 2015 Article Source Author Page Padres swept by Pirates, lose fifth straight UT San Diego Lin 2 Upton day-to-day with sore oblique UT San Diego Lin 5 Padres, Preller prepared to sell and buy UT San Diego Lin 7 Minors: Needy strong in return to AA UT San Diego Sanders 10 Friar talk: Padres’ skid hits five games UT San Diego Sanders 12 Padres looking for positives during losing skid MLB.com Brock 13 Cashner solid, but Padres lose 5th straight MLB.com Brock/Singer 15 Upton sits with a sore left oblique MLB.com Brock 18 Luebke gets good news after MRI on left elbow MLB.com McGonigal 20 Kennedy, Padres finish up 1st half with series vs. Rangers MLB.com McGonigal 21 Padres swept by Pirates, lose 5th in a row Associated Press Barnes 23 Justin Upton day-to-day, not expected to go on DL for Padres ESPN.com ESPN news services 24 On deck: Padres to visit Texas Rangers UT San Diego Sanders 25 Santiago, Templeton elected to Pads HOF UT San Diego Lin 26 Yale Rosen, Michael Gettys power Single-A teams to wins Padres.com Center 28 1 Padres swept by Pirates, lose fifth straight Pittsburgh comes back, again, to beat San Diego By Dennis Lin | 6:54 p.m. July 8, 2015 | Updated, 8:09 p.m. PITTSBURGH — Somewhat lost in the Padres' general malaise over the last three weeks, their pitching has provided a half-glimpse of what this team could and has failed to be. It continued Wednesday at PNC Park ... until it didn't. The Padres led for six innings, were overtaken and eventually lost, 5-2 to the Pirates, suffering both a sweep and a fifth consecutive defeat. Padres right-hander Andrew Cashner one-hit the Pirates through six innings, but he faltered in the eighth after issuing a two-out walk. Gregory Polanco, who had supplied the decisive hit in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Padres, singled off the top of the right-field wall to give Pittsburgh the go-ahead run. Cashner walked off the field after 7 2/3 innings of mixed results. Brandon Maurer, arguably the Padres' most promising young pitcher, walked the first batter he faced before allowing consecutive singles. That put the Pirates ahead, 5-2. A half-inning later, it was over. In each of their last five games, the Padres (39-48) have scored first but rarely again. During that stretch, they have been out-scored 15-7. And in the last three of those games, the Pirates (50-34) notched the winning run in the eighth inning or later. In a reverse of the first few weeks of the season, when they were allowing a lot of runs but scoring even more, the Padres are stressing their arms while their bats come up empty at the plate. 2 "We did not execute offensively at the end," interim manager Pat Murphy said after the Padres recorded another 0-for-5 showing with runners in scoring position. "And our relief pitching is getting tired. ... You think things are going well, and they come up with every big hit." In the bottom of the seventh, Pirates second baseman Neil Walker led off with a double. It was just the Pirates' second hit of the night. Walker scored on a grounder's choice, tying the game at 2-all. "When you face good teams, when good teams are going, they get their breaks," said Cashner, who surrendered four runs on three hits and two walks. "The numbers don't show it, but this road trip we've played, in my opinion, the best baseball we've played all season. We just haven't had the breaks go our way." For as well as they've pitched, here is what the numbers show: The Padres are third- to-last in the majors in OPS. Wednesday, after left fielder Justin Upton was scratched with oblique soreness, Murphy moved shortstop Alexi Amarista, a .212 hitter, into the two-hole. Amarista went 0-for-4. Murphy also batted catcher Derek Norris leadoff for the third consecutive game. Norris went 1-for-5, dropping his average to .240. In the bottom of the eighth, he took a relay throw to the plate off his right knee, Travis Ishikawa slid past him for the go- ahead run and Norris doubled over in pain. He would remain in the game. "Derek's tough. He's going to tell you he's all right, no matter what," Murphy said. "I respect him for that. I think he'll be pretty sore tomorrow. He said his knee popped a little bit. That's always scary to hear, but he wanted to continue. It looked like he was moving OK at the end." Padres right fielder Matt Kemp opened the scoring with a home run to center in the top of the first. It was his seventh homer of the season and his sixth since June 6, though his batting average remains under .250. 3 The Padres got to Pirates right-hander Charlie Morton again in the second. Will Venable drew a one-out walk, and Melvin Upton Jr. drove him in with a double. San Diego had a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Jung-Ho Kang led off with a double. After advancing to third on a groundout, he scored on a sacrifice fly, halving the Pirates' deficit. The Padres finished with five hits, striking out nine times. 4 Upton day-to-day with sore oblique Padres left fielder scratched from Wednesday's lineup By Dennis Lin | 4:46 p.m. July 8, 2015 PITTSBURGH — Padres left fielder Justin Upton was scratched from Wednesday's lineup with left oblique soreness and is considered day-to-day. The soreness first arose from a catch Upton made during the Padres' series in St. Louis. He may have re-aggravated the oblique Tuesday at PNC Park, a game in which he leaped to rob Andrew McCutchen of a two-run homer and recorded an outfield assist with a strong throw to second base. Upton attempted to take batting practice before Wednesday's game, but still feeling soreness, he was soon replaced in left field by Will Venable. "We were hoping he was (ready to start), but we don't want to risk anything," Padres interim manager Pat Murphy said. "He felt it in his oblique and nursed it yesterday a little bit. "We just decided, precautionary, that this wasn't the best day to go. Hurts us a bunch, but that's part of it." Murphy said he did not expect Upton would go on the disabled list. The Padres have an off day Thursday before beginning a three-game series in Texas. "I don't foresee that right now, the way it is right this second, but we don't want to re- aggravate it," he said. "That's part of the thinking for keeping him out today. We've got a day off tomorrow, and hopefully that can be the end of it." The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday in Cincinnati, and Upton is the Padres' lone representative. 5 Positive diagnosis Cory Luebke has been diagnosed with a flexor strain, a positive diagnosis after the Padres left-hander underwent an MRI in San Diego on Tuesday. Luebke will rest and be re-evaluated Monday, Murphy said. Luebke, attempting to return from a second Tommy John surgery, had felt elbow discomfort after a June 30 rehab appearance with Triple-A El Paso. "The ligament was still intact," Murphy said. "It's good news ... given what he's been through and what it could be." Notable • Left-hander Frank Garces was optioned to El Paso on Wednesday, while right- hander Dale Thayer (shoulder) was activated from the 15-day DL. Garces threw two innings and 43 pitches in Tuesday's rain-delayed loss. • Padres starter Tyson Ross, who pitched just two innings before the rain began Tuesday, will pitch again Sunday at Texas. After having their bullpen taxed, the Padres temporarily moved Odrisamer Desapigne to a long-relief role Wednesday, using Thursday's off day to skip Despaigne's turn in the rotation. 6 Padres, Preller prepared to sell and buy Change, not fire sale, coming as trade deadline approaches By Dennis Lin | 3 p.m. July 8, 2015 | Updated, 9:02 p.m. PITTSBURGH — As it was in the offseason, predicting exactly what Padres General Manager A.J. Preller will do next remains an exercise in futility. This much, however, is clear: • The Padres' key decision-makers realize it is getting extremely late to make a run up the standings. • Still, even as a majority of Preller's winter splashes haven't panned out, they feel as strongly as ever about their first-year GM. • In short, the next few weeks could be nearly as interesting as last December. "We think he's done an outstanding job," Padres president and CEO Mike Dee told the Union-Tribune. "The major league club is one part of it; it's a big part of it. We all wish we were winning more games, but listen, you've got to swing to hit, and (Preller) took a big swing this season with this team. "This was a franchise that was stuck in neutral for the last 10 years, so I give A.J. a lot of credit for rolling to the dice to see if we could add to this year's team to compete, to compete with this group, and I think we still may.