Craig Stammen wiped the sweat off his face with his jersey, kicked the dirt on the mound and chucked the ball into his glove a time or two as Padres manager Andy Green, under a cascade of boos and cheers, strode toward the mound.
The bullpen day that began so promisingly had ended in a nightmare. A good number of the 30,518 at Petco Park on Sunday were happy to see it end.
Stammen gave up not one, not two, not three, but four straight homers in the eighth inning, burying the Padres in a 5-2 loss to the Nationals on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.