Tingler frustrated as Padres’ bats remain cold in loss to Giants

Jayce Tingler is generally not all that demonstrative, neither in word nor action.

His fourth ejection in 100 career games as a major league manager came and went Saturday as peacefully as if he were talking with a neighbor about the weather rather than objecting to what he sees as a dubious strike zone.

Tingler walked onto the field after Manny Machado was called out on strikes in the sixth inning and was told to stop by home plate umpire Nic Lentz. When Tingler kept walking, Lentz did not hesitate even a second in ejecting him. In the ensuing couple minutes that he continued talking to Lentz, Tingler never raised his voice and hardly gestured with his hands or even shook his head. Then he walked off the field, as calmly as he walked on.

But make no mistake, the Padres manager is peeved.

“Look, it’s built-up frustration,” he said when asked about what led to his being tossed.

That’s because this has been going on too long.

The Padres lost for a second straight game Saturday in a manner that is far past familiar.

Their 7-1 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park was the Padres’ ninth game this season in which they scored fewer than two runs. They did so just seven times in 60 games in 2020. They were hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position, falling to .224 in such situations this season, a mark that is ninth lowest in the majors. They had one extra-base hit — Wil Myers’ double in the seventh inning, when they trailed 5-1. It was the 12^th game they have had one or zero extra-base hits, 10 more times than they were that lacking in the first 34 games of last season.

The plainspoken Midwesterner is not one for analogies either, but the sputtering Padres’ offense inspired one from him Saturday.

“It’s just frustrating right now,” Tingler said. “We go to step on the gas and engine won’t turn over right now.”

He and everyone else in the organization keeps expressing confidence the bats will eventually be used as more than accessories. These same hitters, after all, comprised on of the major leagues’ most productive groups last season.

But there was an implicit acknowledgement Saturday that something has to change soon.

“We’re going to keep going through this road trip,” he said. “Then we need to look. We’re going to be close to a quarter of the way through. What do we need to change up? What do we need to change up in the way we’re preparing. Because we’re talking about it, but for whatever reason we’re not executing the way we’re capable of. We’re staying patient with our process, but we’ve got to look at what can we do better and how can we do that better. We’re going to get that figured out.”

The Padres were flummoxed Saturday by right-hander Kevin Gausman for the third time this season and second time in a week.

Gausman (3-0, 1.97) allowed them a run on six hits over six innings last Sunday at Petco Park. He got his second COVID vaccine shot Monday, wasn’t feeling great and was placed on the COVID-related IL. He came back Saturday and allowed one run on three hits over six innings.

In the 19 innings he has pitched against the Padres this season, Gausman has allowed three runs and 14 hits.

Saturday, the Padres tried to attack his four-seam fastball but ended up flailing again too often at his split-finger fastball.

“I think you adjust when they make an adjustment,” Gasuman said. “… They took some fastballs in some 3-2 counts last game. So me and Curt (Casali, the Giants catcher) talked before the game, it was like, ‘Hey, wouldn’t be surprised if they were more aggressive, looking for a split 3-2 as opposed to fastball.’ That’s why I got some of those takes last game. You take those things, try to learn from them and make them adjust to your game.”

The Padres’ lone run came in the fifth inning when Jake Cronenworth singled, went to third on a throwing error by Casali and scored on Austin Nola’s grounder to shortstop.

“He was good again,” Tingler said. “I was hoping seeing … Gausman back-to-back starts, we’d be able to get to him a little bit more. Obviously, we couldn’t get much going today. If anything, he had a little more life on his fastball today, especially early on. It’s frustrating not being able to have the at-bats and get the runs we need to get across the board to get things going.”

Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove (2-4, 3.00) lost for the second straight start against the Giants. In a span of seven days, they have scored 10 runs (nine earned) in 10 innings against him.

In his past three starts, Musgrove has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) in 13 innings. In that span, he has allowed 15 hits and struck out 17.

He was among the NL leaders in virtually every category after his first four starts, having surrendered 11 hits and three runs and struck out 37 in 26 innings.

The biggest damage Saturday came on Brandon Crawford’s three-run home run that just cleared the brick façade in right-center field in the second inning. It was the last of three consecutive hits by the Giants, following a single by Brandon Belt and double by Evan Longoria.

Belt homered in the fifth inning. The Giants added a run on two hits and a walk against Tim Hill in the sixth and Austin Slater’s two-run homer off Nabil Crismatt in the eighth.

The loss means the Padres (18-16) cannot leave San Francisco in first place, as the Giants (20-13) increased their cushion atop the National League West to 2½ games.

“Whenever you’re playing a team like this, that you know is going to be in it all the way to the end, you want to win as many games as possible,” Belt said. “… It’s going to be huge for us to come out and get another win tomorrow. I think people are realizing that we have a pretty good ballclub, and we’re here to stay.”

At this point, the Padres are more concerned with just getting some hits, not committing errors, pitching better at the start of games.

“We just have to play cleaner baseball,” Tingler said. “We have to play better baseball. Right now, we’re not doing that.”