The San Antonio Padres entered Saturday two games below .500. They left the same way, but the damage ran deeper.  Eight straight losses, including two blown leads an a pair of blowouts, have consumed the Padres’ season.  The final nail in the coffin was a shutout at the hands of Yoshinobu Yamamoto on America’s 250th birthday. First-year Padres manager Craig Stammen had one message for his team after the 3-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night which clears the picture through.

“We talk about what the future could bring. And my message to them is that the best is yet to come,” first-year Padres manager Craig Stammen said on 97.3 The Fan. “And it will always be that way. And I internally believe that. And I will keep saying that message till the day that I die.”

The Padres entered Saturday two games below .500 at 43-45 and left it the same way. The loss did not just deepen the hole, but it extended a run that now became the franchise’s longest skid since a 10-game losing streak in 2013. After a strong April, the slide has consumed the gains made in the first two months of the season. Their last win came on June 26 against the same Dodgers. Five of their last eight games have produced three or fewer runs. They lost one game by 15-3 to LA and another by 23-2 to the Cubs.

On Saturday, Yamamoto recorded his second win over the Padres in eight days, recording a season-high 10 strikeouts. Across the scoreless 7 innings he pitched, the Padres hitters had one scoring chance. In the first inning, they put runners on first and third, assisted by Fernando Tatis Jr and Gavin Sheets’ singles. However, Yamamoto swiftly escaped the jam with a strikeout to end the inning. Apart from the three hits Yamamoto allowed, the Padres only mustered one more. Tatis Jr hit a two-out double off Brock Stewart in the eighth.

“We’ve been battling pretty hard offensively and doing a little bit better. Today? Not the case. He kind of shoved it against us,” said Stammen about Yamamoto’s outing.

Wandy Peralta opened with a scoreless first inning before Griffin Canning entered in a bulk relief role. Canning limited the damage, allowing one run across four innings. However, the Dodgers made it count efficiently.

Andy Pages put Los Angeles up 1-0 in the third with an RBI single. Freddie Freeman extended it to 2-0 in the sixth with his 15th home run of the season, a solo shot off Kyle Hart. Then, in the eighth, Freeman delivered an RBI single off Mason Miller to seal the 3-0 final.

Stammen was measured but direct about what comes next.

“It’s a stepping stone that makes us a stronger team going forward. We’ve just got to believe in that until we finally win a game, and then hopefully go on a winning streak.”

Sunday’s series finale offers the first chance to stop the bleeding. JP Sears will be taking the mound. And beyond that, the Padres need to fix their structural problem, which is an offense that has gone cold. However, a losing streak this long enough does leave a mark on the season.

There was one piece of positive news for the Padres to take into the final game of the series.

Mason Miller Named Padres’ Lone All-Star

The San Diego Padres will have only one player representing them in the All-Star Game this year. After having four All-Stars last year, Mason Miller will be the only Friar in the Midsummer Classic.

Miller has already been an All-Star before with the Oakland Athletics. This marks his second All-Star selection, and it comes as no surprise with the season he is having. Across 34 outings, Miller has saved all 21 of the opportunities he has gotten, blowing none. He leads the NL in terms of saves and has recorded 66 strikeouts. Furthermore, Miller has yet to allow any extra-base hits this season.

With players like Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, and Xander Bogaerts struggling at the plate, Miller has emerged as the ideal All-Star candidate.

Miller pitched for the first time after his All-Star selection against the Dodgers on Saturday. He allowed only an RBI single to Freeman, spiking his ERA to 1.01.

The Padres will need more than one All-Star performance to reverse what has become their most damaging stretch of the season. And Sunday’s faceoff against the Dodgers offers that first chance.