It has been a down hill slide for the San Diego Padres this year. Not only do they hold a 29-42 record at Petco Park, but the Padres are in last place in their divsion where they have struggled the most posting a 19-37 losing record in the NLW. San Diego is 1-11 in their last 12 games. Now they look to put the brakes on the losing streak dispite having no chance of geting into the play-offs. The Right-Hander Aaron Harang will get the call to take the hill for the Padres. Dispite the stuggling season his team has had he has come out with an outstanding winning record of 12-5 with an ERA of 3.86 and a 6-4 record at Petco, But he has only managed a 7-7 record their behind the Padres. San Diego has dropped 2 of his last 3 starts even though he has given up 2 runs or less in all 3 apperances. Harang has been outstanding against the Giants and looks to continue his dominance in order to avoid a season-high third straight loss. Harang allowed three runs over seven innings of a 3-0 home loss to the Rockies on Friday. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two starts this season versus the Giants both at Petco. However, the San Diego native is 1-2 with a 4.94 ERA in four home starts since the All-Star break. He had been 5-2 with a 2.92 ERA at home in the first half of the season. San Diego has dropped six of seven at home to San Francisco and 11 of 12 overall.
If the San Francisco Giants can continue taking advantage of teams that are all but out of the playoff race over the final three weeks, then they could still have a shot at defending their championship. With Arizona's loss to Colorado, the Giants cut their deficit to six games behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks and are still very much in this race with 20 games left.
Making his 200th career start, the Giants' Matt Cain who is 11-9 with a 2.85 ERA, will try to beat the Padres for the first time this season. The Giants have lost his last 2 out of 3 start as well. He lasted eight innings for the third time in four starts Friday, beating Arizona 6-2 to end the Diamondbacks' nine-game winning streak. and has allowed 2 runs or less in 3 of those 4 starts including a shut out against the Braves back on Aug 17th. The only win the Giants have had against San Diego with Cain on the hill was at Petco Park where Cain looked dominate giving up 1 run off 3 hits in 6 strong inning however he did not get the decision in that game. Cain has an above average 5-4 record on the road this year and with a 2.81 ERA and San Fransisco has won 8 of his 14 road starts. The Giants have played well for the NLW and posts a 32-20 record in these situations and 43 and -36 against teams with a losing record. Dispite Harang having a great season pitching the Padres are a terrible 19-30 against teams with a winning record and only 1-4 in the start of September. Cain rolls today.
The Chicago White Sox have finally put together a long winning streak on the road over the Minnesota Twins, but it may not be enough to erase a poor start against their division rivals or get into the postseason. Chicago is clinging to keep their playoff hopes alive. The White Sox will try to complete their second straight road sweep of the Twins Wednesday night. The White Sox have gone 8-1 against the Twins after dropping seven of the first eight matchups. The surge was sparked by a three-game sweep from Aug. 5-7 Chicago's first in Minneapolis since 2004. The White Sox now will try to win seven straight on the road over the Twins franchise for the first time since Aug. 28, 1956-June 30, 1957, when they were the Washington Senators. The White Sox have done their best against teams with losing records posting a handsome 22-11 record in those situations and 41-32 on the road thus far. Chicago will send John Danks to the hill to conclude this division series. John Danksis only 6-10 with an ERA just over 4.00 He looks to bounce back from his worst outing of the season for Chicago. The left-hander was charged with eight runs in 4 2/3 innings of Friday's 8-1 loss to Detroit. But the Sox have won 2 of his last 3 starts and 5 of his last 7 starts. But, the road has not been kind to this Left-Hander this year where is struggles have continuted posting a 2-7 record with an ERA just over 5.00 and Chicago has dropped 8 of his 11 road starts this year, However, Danks is 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA over his last 12 starts after starting 0-8 with a 5.25 ERA. Danks, who lost at home to Minnesota on May 4, is 1-1 with a 6.30 ERA in three career starts at Target Field, which opened last year.
Carl Pavono will be the opposing pitching for the Twins. The right-hander earned his first win in five starts overall after Friday's 13-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Looking to avoid a fifth straight home loss, Minnesota's Carl Pavano tries to extend his success over the White Sox. During his skid, Pavano has been reached for 17 runs in 27 2/3 innings while getting a total of seven runs of support. Since joining the Twins following a trade with Cleveland in 2009, Pavano is 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA and two complete games in seven starts versus Chicago, but he has had his problems as a pitcher as well. He posts a 3-5 record at Target Feild this year with the Twins dropping 8 of Pavonos last 12 starts at Target Feild this year. Pavono is 1-2 in his last 3 starts posting an ERA well over 5.00. Target Feild has not been a homsted for Minnesota as they hold a horrific record of 29-43 there and 30-43 against teams with wining records. Even though both pitchers have struggled in both situations here,White Sox leadoff hitter Juan Pierre is 5 for 12 this season against Pavano, who's allowed an AL-high 221 hits. Pierre, 9 for 31 in eight games at Target Field this year, needs two hits to reach 2,000. Paul Konerko, expected to be back in the starting lineup after being given Tuesday off, is 1 for 9 this year when facing Pavano. Though Konerko is 0 for his last 10, he's batting .311 and leads the team with 28 homers and 92 RBIs. I like the Whites Sox to get it done here and try to make it to the Play-offs.
GAME 3
If the St. Louis Cardinals played as well all season versus Milwaukee as they have against the Brewers of late, they might be atop the NL Central instead of realistically out of the race. St. Louis swept a three-game set at Miller Park last week to move within 7 1/2 games of the Brewers, but dropped two of three to Cincinnati over the weekend while Milwaukee swept the Astros. The Brewers won 4-1 in Monday's series opener. The Cardinals' ace, Chris Carpenter will take the hill for St Louis. Carpenter allowed a run in eight innings against the Dodgers on Aug. 22, but has yielded 12 runs and 17 hits in 11 innings while going 0-1 in his last two starts. He gave up six runs in six innings while not factoring in the decision during an 11-8 loss to Cincinnati on Friday with the Cardinals have dropped all 3 of his previous starts. Though the right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA in three starts against the Brewers this year, the victory came in the most recent one Aug. 11, when he allowed two runs in eight innings of a 5-2 win at Busch Stadium, and the Cardinals have won 56 of his 79 previous home starts at Busch, However he has lost his previous 3 start with an ERA well over 6.00. Three of Holliday's seven hits in 24 at-bats in September have left the park, with two of those coming against the Brewers. The Cardinals' slugger is 4 for 9 with two home runs versus scheduled starter Zack Greinke.
Zack Greinke will oppose the Cardinals ace trying to get the Brewers back on track and put St Louis out of a Play-off spot. Greinke has been great this season posting a 14-5 record for Milwaukee, but his ERA is slightly elevated at 4.00. The Right-Hander has enjoyed his success against the Cardinals this year as he is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA against St. Louis this season. Both of those outings came at Miller Park, where the right-hander is 10-0 with a 2.96 ERA in 12 starts. Greinke improved to 4-5 with a 5.31 ERA in 11 road outings after allowing two runs in six innings of an 8-2 win at Houston on Friday, with the Brewers dropping 6 of his 11 road starts this year. Corey Hart, 5 for 17 with seven strikeouts and a homer against Carpenter, added two more hits Tuesday and is batting .359 during an 18-game hitting streak. He's hit .333 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 15 games versus St. Louis. With three hits Tuesday, Morgan is batting .370 (20 for 54) against the Cardinals this season. I think Carpenter is slightly favored here just because he has had quit a few victories here at Busch but he will struggle here as the Brewers take this one.
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