The San Diego Padres completed a nine-game road trip in Colorado, taking two of three from the Rockies while suffering an unexpected meltdown from their bullpen. They then came home to a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels.

Records good and bad

Over the course of the three games from May 9 to May 11 the bullpen allowed 20 runs, eight of those charged to Wandy Peralta and four to Sean Reynolds.

Stephen Kolek pitched a complete game shutout in the second game, his second major league start.

The 21-0 victory pitched by Kolek was the largest victory margin for the Padres. Their 24 hits tied for most by a Padres team in nine innings and their 25-13 record after the series was the best 38-game record in Padres history.

On returning home to face the Angels, the team again took two of three and suffered another bullpen implosion in the first game of the series. The relief corp went from the best ERA (1.68) in baseball to the seventh (3.19) after their bad six game stretch (31 runs allowed in 17.2 IP). This was the worst bullpen performance in Padres history over six games.

Fortunately, a light appears at the end of the tunnel. The last two Angel games gave the bullpen a chance to bounce back and they have begun the recovery. The last game allowed Alek Jacob, Adrian Morejon and Robert Suarez to shut the Angels down for a victory.

Roster changes and injury updates

Jake Cronenworth returned to the team from his rib fracture on May 9 and the “Core 6” is back in business.

Connor Joe was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for a Double-A reliever and cash.

Jackson Merrill was out for one game (May 11) with flu-like symptoms.

Top prospect, catcher Ethan Salas, was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his back and will be out of action until July.

Pitcher Jhony Brito had UCL and flexor tendon surgery on his arm in April. He will be out until the middle of next season.

Yu Darvish started on a rehab assignment with El Paso, throwing four innings and 51 pitches of the 65 he was working up to. He had four strikeouts, a walk and allowed two runs. The next-day report was great and we could see him in San Diego as early as next week (per manager Mike Shildt).

Bryan Hoeing started a rehab assignment in Arizona with the ACL Padres.

Matt Waldron has been playing catch in a slow ramp up from his left oblique strain (per manager Mike Shildt).

Shining stars

Manny Machado is on a 14-game hitting streak, his best as a Padre, with a .340/.410/.490 slash line. He is second behind Freddie Freeman, who just qualified to be ranked and took first place from Machado.

Jake Cronenworth returned to the team on fire. He has a .300/.483/.500 slash line with a homer, 4 RBI, 7 BB and a stolen base. He also has the lowest chase rate of the Core 6.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first walk-off home run (of his major league career) on May 13 to bring the team back from another bullpen implosion and allow a series win (when they won the last game of the series the next night).

The fans deserve a star as well. The Padres have had 18 of 21 home games sell out, averaging over 42,000 per game and are second only to the ‘dragon to the North’ in attendance.