SAN DIEGO — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 6-2 loss to the San Diego on Sunday at Petco Park:

1) Boston dropped the three-game series, 2-1. It fell to 65-54 overall and 26-32 on the road. The Padres improved to 66-52.

2) The Red Sox had their chance in the seventh inning. Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts made an error on a routine ground ball hit to him with the bases loaded and no outs. The error allowed two runs to score, cutting Boston’s deficit to 5-2.

Wilyer Abreu followed with a single to reload the bases. But the Red Sox couldn’t capitalize. Padres right-handed reliever Jason Adam struck out Ceddanne Rafaela swinging and pinch hitter Abraham Toro looking. Lefty reliever Adrian Morejon replaced Adam and struck out Roman Anthony swinging on a 98.5 sinker to end the inning.

Toro was pinch hitting for Connor Wong.

“We didn’t put the ball in play,” manager Alex Cora said. “Ceddanne got a good pitch to hit, the first one. He was a little bit early. Hit it foul. Toro fought the at-bat. Backdoor slider to get him. And then they brought in the lefty and the kid (Anthony) put a good at-bat. But we weren’t able to put the ball in play before two outs and we didn’t score.”

3) Jarren Duran seemed to take a bad route to Luis Arráez’s 331-foot drive into left-center field in the third inning, although he probably wouldn’t have caught it anyway. The catch probably was 5%. It landed for a two-run double that put the Padres ahead 2-0.

4) Red Sox starter Brayan Bello tossed 5 ⅔ innings, allowing five runs, six hits and three walks while striking out seven.

He recorded 13 swings and misses, including six with his changeup, which he threw 13 times. Despite generating whiffs on all six swings, it was his least used pitch at 12%.

5) Fernando Tatis Jr. gave the Padres a 3-0 lead in the fifth with an RBI single. Xander Bogaerts made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the sixth. Jake Cronenworth drew a bases-loaded walk against reliever Chris Murphy in the sixth, making it 5-0.

6) Dylan Cease — who was involved in Red Sox trade rumors earlier this season — pitched well for San Diego. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven in 6 innings.

MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported July 25 that San Diego tried to acquire Jarren Duran for a package involving Cease, catching prospect Ethan Salas and another prospect (not shortstop Leo de Vries) for Duran, which the Red Sox quickly rejected.

7) The Red Sox will open up a three-game series in Houston against the Astros on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern. Ace Garrett Crochet (13-4, 2.24 ERA) will start opposite Astros righty Cristian Javier who will make his first start back from Tommy John surgery.