San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell had another strong outing in his first start after the 2023 MLB All-Star break. The only problem was he didn't last long enough to prevent the Padres bullpen from losing the game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Blake Snell handed off a 3-0 lead to the bullpen after throwing five scoreless innings. The Phillies scored runs in each of the next three innings to pull out a 6-4 victory.

It was a surprise when Snell didn't return for the sixth inning. The Padres' starter only threw 82 pitches before he was taken out of the contest. Snell struck out seven batters while surrendering three hits and three walks.

Snell told reporters after the game that the heat in Philadelphia wasn't a factor in his early exit. The left-hander noted that he went into the game feeling “a little sore.” He said the Padres played it smart by taking him out after five innings, making sure he didn't “overdo it.”

“Frustrating for me,” Snell said of his start, via 97.3 The Fan. “Just in the sense of command, how strong I felt.

“I just had to work harder than I expected. I had a really good game plan. I was really excited about it. I just didn't execute the way I wanted to.”

Snell has been MLB's most dominant starting pitcher over the last two months. Saturday's start extended his scoreless innings streak to 21 straight. In June, Snell lasted at least six innings in all five of his starts. He allowed three runs total.

Snell's string of dominance hasn't even been able to turn around a severely disappointing Padres season. The loss dropped San Diego to 44-48 on the year, putting the Padres 6.5 games out of the wild-card race.