Dennis Lin

"We're trying to make sure that we keep it in perspective that this guy's really important for us for the season," Ruben Niebla said.

SEATTLE -- Almost an hour after his most strenuous outing in over a year, Mason Miller emerged from the training room and apologized to a few waiting reporters. If not for the presence of fellow reliever Jeremiah Estrada, the San Diego Padres' hulking closer would have been the last player in the visiting clubhouse. It was late Friday at T-Mobile Park, where Miller had struck out four batters, permitted three base runners and thrown 34 pitches in a shutout of the Seattle Mariners.

As the Padres' high-priced trio continues to struggle at the plate, role players like Andujar, who homered Monday, are picking up the slack.

San Diego has one of baseball's best bullpens, but is wary of overworking it.

Kurtz, who set the walks record at Wake Forest University, leads the majors in walks (51) and on-base percentage (.448).

The former All-Star and the author of the Padres’ first no-hitter, Musgrove hopes to return right after the All-Star break.

San Diego's star-studded lineup is filled with hitters who are underperforming, something both players and manager believe is unsustainable.

Merrill’s single and double off the Phillies’ Cy Young candidate Cristopher Sánchez marked his first multi-hit performance since May 5.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first home run of the season Saturday, ending the longest power outage of his career and one of the most scrutinized droughts in baseball.

May marked just the second time in franchise history that the Padres batted .200 or worse in a calendar month.