Robbie Ray, offense struggle as Padres fall 5-1 to Yankees
Fernando Ramirez
Host · Writer
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The San Diego Padres’ (74-68) bats were almost nonexistent in their 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees (81-61).
Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón did a number on the Padres lineup, allowing only two hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters in five innings of work.
The Padres could muster only three hits on Saturday evening, while their pitchers allowed five runs and walked seven batters.
“It’s going to be a tough task against any one of the pitchers that they face, and they match up really well with their bullpen,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “The right and left matchups. They're very platoon oriented on that and today we just couldn't scratch through.”
It was a game to forget for pitcher Robbie Ray, who went 2.1 innings, allowing five hits and five earned runs while walking four batters.
“Pitch execution,” Ray said. “I mean that was the biggest issue.”
Things got ugly for Ray in the second inning. Ben Rice singled, followed by a Heliot Ramos strikeout and a George Lombard Jr. groundout that moved Rice to second base. Spencer Jones came up with two outs and hit a double that was barely fair down the right-field line, bringing Rice home for a 1-0 lead.
It wouldn’t stop there. Ray walked José Caballero and Austin Wells to load the bases, followed by a Paul Goldschmidt walk that made it 2-0. Cody Bellinger came up next and singled to right, bringing home two more Yankees. New York scored four runs in the second inning.
“I think early, like the first inning looked really good,” Stammen said. “I thought his stuff was crisp and throwing it for strikes, and then the second inning he just got to that two out spot, gave him the knock and then struggled you know throwing strikes.”
David Frerker-Imagn Images
Sep 5, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) hits a two-run single during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Things didn’t get any better in the third inning as Ray walked Rice, who then reached third after a Ramos single to center. Lombard Jr. brought Rice home with a sacrifice fly to right field to extend the Yankees’ lead to 5-0. Ray was pulled after giving up a single to Jones and replaced by Griffin Canning.
“This is just flush it and move on,” Ray said.
The Padres showed some signs of life offensively in the fourth inning when Manny Machado hit his 25th home run of the year to left-center field. At that point, it was only their second hit of the game.
“Today was a good sign with that home run off a tough lefty and hopefully, there's more of that to come the rest of the way,” Stammen said.
The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Houston Astros 4-3 in extra innings, leaving the Padres on the outside looking in when it comes to the Wild Card race.
The Padres will look to take the series on Sunday when Gerrit Cole (8-7) faces Michael King (9-9) at 1:10 p.m. PT.
