ARLINGTON, Texas — After putting his team in a hole during a 4-3 loss Sunday to the Texas Rangers, Lucas Giolito buried his face in a towel as he sat in the visiting dugout. The veteran right-hander had just completed an inning that encapsulated the two-way danger of this San Diego Padres season.In the top of the third, three batters who began the season in Triple A grounded out in succession. In the bottom of the third, Giolito issued a leadoff walk to the Rangers’ No. 8 hitter and failed to field the ball cleanly when the next pitch was bunted down the first-base line. He had barely returned to the mound when he floated a 78.6 mph changeup toward the plate.Wyatt Langford clobbered it for a three-run homer, breaking a scoreless tie.“It sucks,” Giolito said. “I’m the reason the team lost and we lost the series.”
Langford Longball 💥 #AllForTX pic.twitter.com/yZUUHnr8ks
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 21, 2026Sunday’s rubber-game defeat concluded a 4-5 trip in which the Padres narrowly avoided being no-hit, saw signs of life from their scuffling stars and continued to suffer from a starting pitching shortage. The club’s offensive woes have been a season-long headline. Now, an increasingly shaky rotation is moving back to the top of the club’s list of concerns.The Padres rank 28th in quality starts (14). They are 26th in starters’ ERA (4.64), not counting the four innings of four-run ball Giolito threw Sunday as a bulk reliever with a troubling repertoire.In the softest-throwing appearance of his career, Giolito averaged 90.2 mph with his four-seam fastball — down only slightly from his season clip. He struggled to land his breaking pitches in the strike zone. Since the Padres signed him to a one-year, $3 million deal in April, he has allowed a 5.16 ERA in seven outings. Most of his other numbers, including a 23-to-18 walk-to-strikeout ratio, suggest his ERA should be worse.
