MIAMI — Stephen Kolek fared better Tuesday than he had in his previous start against the Marlins. But he also did not fare as well.

Baseball can be weird.

And it can be cruel.

It certainly tends to be just that for Padres pitchers when they are something short of almost perfect.

Kolek and David Morgan were those pitchers on Tuesday, as a too little, too late rally by the Padres fell short in a 4-3 loss.

“(Edward) Cabrera threw the ball well,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of the Marlins’ starter, who allowed a single run in 5⅔ innings. “… Kolek pretty much matched him. They were able to open it up a little bit. And there in the ninth, we were able to put some really good at-bats together. We just couldn’t get that trying run or go-ahead run home.”

Yeah. That was it.

That is it quite a bit.

Kolek surrendered two runs in the first and one in the sixth, all of them with two outs.

“They’re pesky hitters,” he said of the Marlins, who have won 17 of their past 25 games.

The run Morgan allowed in the eighth inning ended up being the difference.

“He gave up a run for the first time in maybe three weeks,” Shildt said. “I’m not sure what to say beyond that.”

It had actually been two weeks, though he had allowed just two runs in his previous 12 appearances.

Padres pitchers aren’t allowed that liberty on many nights.

Tuesday’s defeat came at the hands of a good starting pitcher and a bullpen that has been even better than the Padres’ league-leading relief corps since the middle of June.

But there have been far too many low-scoring, low-margin games for that explanation to seem like anything more than an excuse.

The Padres have scored three runs or fewer in 50 of their 101 games, tied for sixth most in the major leagues. Tuesday was their 37th game decided by one run, tied for third most.

And the final tally was somewhat deceiving given what transpired for eight innings.

And what took place in the ninth really only served to accentuate the Padres’ problems getting runners home.

In the ninth, they scored twice and had Jackson Merrill at second base before making their first out. And they were walking back to the clubhouse seven pitches later after two pop flies and a strikeout.

The inning began with Gavin Sheets working a walk followed by doubles by Xander Bogaerts and Merrill.

Then, Jake Cronenworth popped out, Jose Iglesias struck out and pinch-hitter Trenton Brooks popped out to end the game.

Cabrera, who had held the Padres scoreless over 11 innings in his previous two starts against them, allowed a run in the third inning when Martín Maldonado led off with a double, advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on Luis Arraez’s single.

Arraez also doubled at the start of the sixth inning but was thrown out trying to score on Bogaerts’ dribbled grounder in front of the plate.

Manny Machado had followed Arraez by grounding out before Sheets’ infield single moved Arraez to third and Bogaerts beat a ball into the ground. Merrill’s groundout to first base ended the threat of the Padres tying the game.

That is when what was almost a fairly magnificent night for Kolek fell apart.

The Marlins had struck for two runs in the first inning on a pair of two-out singles, an error by Machado and a double by El Cajon native Kyle Stowers.

That was far better than what they did to Kolek on May 27 at Petco Park.

The right-hander surrendered six runs in the first inning that night before allowing just two more baserunners while getting one out into the sixth inning and earning the win in an 8-6 Padres victory.

He recovered strongly Tuesday, as well, yielding just three singles between the second and fifth innings.

But after he retired his 10th consecutive batter for the second out in the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins scored again on a double by Agustín Ramírez and an RBI single by Heriberto Hernández. Kolek hit a batter to load the bases, and Shildt went to Wandy Peralta, who got out of the inning.

Morgan took over for Peralta with two outs in the seventh and allowed a run in the eighth after a single by Hernández and a triple by Javier Sonoja.

Those transgressions seemed less troublesome than the Padres being unable to get those runners home from second base, getting seven total hits and having Fernando Tatis Jr. and Machado both go 0-for-4.

Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM PDT