Giants’ Slide Deepens as Padres Win Series 3–1

The San Francisco Giants’ August slump worsened Thursday as they fell 8–4 to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, losing the four-game set 3–1. The defeat was their sixth in the past seven meetings with their National League West rivals and dropped the Giants to the worst record in Major League Baseball over the last five weeks. San Diego capitalised on a sloppy fifth inning in which the Giants committed two errors on one play, turning a 2–2 tie into a 6–2 Padres lead. Manny Machado punctuated the rally with a two-run double off Justin Verlander, who was charged with seven earned runs and slipped to 1–10 on the season. The Giants have been outscored 44–13 by the Padres across the recent seven-game stretch. Manager Bob Melvin lamented the club’s mounting defensive lapses, noting that poor fielding combined with light hitting has left the Giants "looking awful". Rookie infielder Casey Schmitt, responsible for the errant throw, made four errors in the series. San Francisco now trails both Los Angeles and San Diego by double-digit games in the division, raising the prospect of finishing more than 20 games behind two NL West opponents for the first time in franchise history.