SAN DIEGO — What had been a good West Coast trip for the Cubs ended in an anticlimactic 4-2 loss Wednesday to the Padres.
The Cubs went 3-3 against the Dodgers and Padres, winning the series in Los Angeles and losing the one in San Diego.
‘‘If you look at the beginning of the season, this is one of your tougher trips,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘I think we did make ourselves a hard beat. But you’re frustrated because you feel like there was another game out there we could have won on the trip.’’
Cubs starter Matthew Boyd held the Padres to two runs in 5⅓ innings, but he was hard on himself for putting the Padres’ eighth and ninth hitters on base in the third, walking Elias Diaz and allowing a single to Tyler Wade.
‘‘Basically setting the table for the top of their lineup,’’ Boyd said. ‘‘Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game right there. And I’ve got to be better in those situations.’’
The Padres tied the score and took the lead on singles by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in that inning, but there was blame to go around.
The offense scored only two runs, one on Kyle Tucker’s sacrifice fly in the third and the other on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s home run in the eighth. The Padres scored their other two runs against the bullpen, as walks continued to haunt Cubs relievers.
The blemish on right-hander Daniel Palencia’s otherwise-strong 1⅔ innings was a leadoff walk to Wade, which set up an RBI double by Machado in the seventh.
Left-hander Luke Little, making his first major-league appearance since a shoulder injury last July, issued four free passes in two-thirds of an inning in the eighth, walking in a run.
‘‘I don’t think anybody’s worried about moving forward here,’’ Crow-Armstrong said. ‘‘I think we’re excited to go back home and keep this good feeling going because that’s definitely not lost after this series.’’
Suzuki and Kelly return
Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki (pain in right wrist) and catcher Carson Kelly (bruised left hand) returned to the lineup.
They both had exited in the middle of a game during the series against the Dodgers — on Saturday and Sunday, respectively — and Miguel Amaya replaced each of them.
That meant Amaya played in five consecutive games, catching in all but one of those appearances, including the Cubs’ 10-inning victory Tuesday against the Padres.
‘‘You never know what’s going to happen,’’ Kelly said. ‘‘As catchers, one pitch could change up a lot of things. And it’s just kudos to him for being prepared every single day to go out and play. And even on days that he’s not in the starting lineup, he’s ready to go. So I think that it shows a lot about who he is as a person and who he is as a player.’’
Injury update
Right-handed reliever Tyson Miller (impingement in left hip) pitched a hitless inning Tuesday in his rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa. He’s scheduled to pitch again Friday, Counsell said.
Counsell also said right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier (strained left groin) has gone through a few days of playing catch.
‘‘We’ve got a ways to go here,’’ Counsell said.
