Good morning from Phoenix,

That was pretty straightforward.

The Padres lost to the Diamondbacks last night because their starting pitcher was not effective.

You can read in my game story ( here ) about JP Sears’ Padres debut, as well as how Padres hitters could not find a way to do much against Brandon Pfaadt or two relievers.

Now, after Yu Darvish starts tonight, we will see what Nestor Cortes does in his first start with the team tomorrow.

The Padres padded the back end of their starting rotation at the trade deadline with left-handers Sears and Cortes.

They are the veterans the team decided to lean on rather than stick with Randy Vásquez and after Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek were sent to to Kansas City in exchange for Freddy Fermin.

Soon, there will almost certainly be a dec

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