Not too worried

The 5-game winning streak is over for the San Diego Padres, but that doesn't mean the good vibes or the momentum have to stop.

The San Diego Padres finally lost a game. After winning five in a row, they just narrowly avoided sweeping the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

No team is going to win every game and I’m actually encouraged by the way the Padres lost. The team still scored 4 runs, and still had a lead for much of the game.

Joe Musgrove was brilliant for five innings before leaving due to shoulder fatigue. I hope that’s not the lead-in to some more-serious injury.

The bullpen behind Musgrove started out a little shaky. Adrian Morejon pitched one perfect inning and then lost it a little bit in the 7th, giving up a single and a walk before the team brought on “fireman” Nick Martinez to get out of the jam.

Martinez, simply, didn’t have it. It happens. And when it happens to relief pitchers, there’s not a lot you can do but hope they don’t create a ton of damage in the time it takes you to warm up someone else.

Nick Martinez walked the first batter he faced, then went 3-0 with the bases loaded to Brendan Donovan before giving up a grand slam on a get-me-over fastball. Bad outings happen. Martinez will likely be back to his usual self the next time we see him.

I was really hoping that this team’s forward momentum would lead them to finding a way to win anyway. Manny Machado started off the 8th inning, with the Padres down 2, with a solo home run. That got them within 1, but no more runs were scored after that.

There’s no reason to think that this will kill the good vibes that they had. Baseball players know that even the best teams lose the occasional game, what’s more important is winning the series, which the Padres did convincingly.