Randy Vásquez, Padres bullpen stumble in loss to Cardinals

Michael King will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso on Sunday. Newcomer J.P. Sears threw a bullpen on Saturday ahead of folding into the rotation early next week. Nestor Cortes was due in town Saturday night and could be activated as soon as Sunday.

In other words, the numbers game that squeezed Randy Vásquez out of the rotation last year could do so again soon.

That does not diminish Vásquez’s contributions to this postseason push.

Even after a hiccup on Saturday.

The 26-year-old right-hander coughed up a four-run lead before Padres manager Mike Shildt could turn to his upgraded super ‘pen, the Padres’ bats fell silent after the third inning and an 8-5 loss to the Cardinals snapped a six-game winning streak.

The Padres scored in each of the first three innings, but Pedro Pagés’ three-run homer — with action in the bullpen — tied the game in the fourth inning, the Cardinals added on off Jeremiah Estrada in the fifth to grab a two-run lead and St. Louis’ pitching staff retired 10 in a row before Jackson Merrill’s single with two outs in the eighth inning.

But reliever JoJo Romero got the next out, the Cardinals roughed up Yuki Matsui for two more runs in the ninth and the Padres’ ninth-inning rally was halted at one run when Fernando Tatis Jr. followed up Freddy Fermín’s RBI single by flying out to the warning track to end the game.

The Padres were looking to win a seventh straight game started by Vásquez.

He had a 2.79 ERA in four starts in July, but Vásquez was pulled in the fifth inning in each of his last three starts as the Padres — likely cognizant of opponents’ OPS jumping from .683 the second time through the order to .919 the third time — turned to baseball’s best bullpen for four-plus frames.

Vásquez has not won a start since May 14, but he carried a 3.65 ERA into Saturday’s start, and the Padres were 14-7 in games he’s started because of his ability to minimize damage.

So much so that Shildt has taken to calling him “a traffic cop.”

“He has pitched fantastic,” Shildt said Saturday afternoon. “He’s done a great job. … Last year, we had a solid year. This year, we’re in a good place, and a reason for that is Randy Vásquez able to go and take the ball and give a chance to win, and we’ve been able to do that in Randy’s starts. So he’s been very important to us.”

That was the case last year, too, when both he and knuckleballer Matt Waldron held the rotation together until both Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove returned down the stretch.

What he’s done this year is a clear improvement on his first year in San Diego (4.87 ERA), but the roster is about to be crunched just the same.

Sears will likely make his first Padres start early in the week in Arizona, Cortes is said to be ready to come off the 60-day injured list and King is trending toward a return from his shoulder/nerve issue this month. The Padres also kept Dylan Cease at the trade deadline, so all those developments could very well send Vásquez to Triple-A El Paso for the first time this season.

If Saturday was his last start in the majors for the time being, it will leave a sour taste in his mouth.

Vásquez didn’t walk a batter, but Ivan Herrera’s single to start the fifth was his eighth hit allowed in the game, one shy of a season high.

Vásquez surrendered hits in each of his four-plus innings of work but didn’t pay for it until Nolan Gorman’s run-scoring single to center in the fourth. Pagés followed immediately with a game-tying homer on a 422-foot blast off a hanging 1-2 curve, erasing the Padres offense’s diligent work to start the night.

The next inning, Vásquez allowed a leadoff single, and Estrada began his night with a four-pitch walk that Masyn Winn cashed in with a two-run double.

Luis Arraez immediately extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games with a first-inning double and scored on Manny Machado’s hard-hit single off the wall.

Ramón Laureano and Fermín drove in their first runs as Padres in the second inning — on an RBI triple and an RBI groundout, respectively — and Merrill opened up a 4-0 lead with a homer to center in the third inning.