SAN DIEGO (AP) — A downcast Gio Gonzalez capped his disappointing workday with a cliche Sunday.
"It's one of those games that you learn from and move on," he said.
The Nationals left-hander allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings, and Washington lost to the San Diego Padres 6-3 despite a trio of solo homers.
Five of Gonzalez's runs were earned, and he allowed eight hits and four walks. Gonzalez (3-6) also had three strikeouts and lost his fifth straight decision.
"He had it, but he had it in spurts," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "When he came back and tightened it up, he then kind of gave it back."
San Diego's Drew Pomeranz allowed the three homers but not much else. Adam Rosales drove in two runs and the last-place Padres earned a split of the four-game series by winning the final two outings.
"They outplayed us the last two days and I'm not real happy about it," Baker said.
The left-handed Pomeranz (6-7) had lost four of his previous five decisions. He worked six innings, striking out seven and walking one. He allowed two homers to Michael Taylor and another to Danny Espinosa, and his ERA rose to 3.00.
"Drew was solid," Padres manager Andy Green said. "He threw the ball well."
Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 14th save in as many chances.
Taylor went 4 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle.
But it's the seemingly never-ending loop that Gonzalez can't escape. He's pitching OK, but not good enough to win.
"It's very, very frustrating," he said. "All you can do is keep pushing forward and keep going out there and attacking.
"There's not much I can say. The best ball hit today was the Rosales' ball and other than that I can't do nothing about it. But the walks didn't help. The two hit-by-pitches didn't help. Other than that, I guess that was it."
Gonzalez said he's not missing by much.
"I had pitches that I left up just enough where they could get hits," Gonzalez said.
Melvin Upton Jr. had two hits and scored twice for the Padres.
With the Nats trailing 5-3, Daniel Murphy nearly tied it in the sixth but was denied by Travis Jankowski. The Padres' center fielder, who had replaced Jon Jay after he suffered a right forearm contusion in the fourth, raced to the fence and made a leaping catch with a man on.
Taylor smoked Pomeranz's first pitch for a home run. It was the fourth time Washington had a leadoff homer this season, three by Taylor.
UP NEXT:
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (10-0) faces Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw (10-1) at Los Angeles on Monday in one of the premiere pitching matchups of the season. The pairing pits two of the top four pitchers in winning percentage against each other.
