San Diego Padres go Snake hunting at Petco Park
It’s Restaurant Week in San Diego and the Padres plan to spend the next three days sampling the Snake Tacos with the Arizona Diamondbacks arriving in town.
A combined 34 games below par and each team at least 20 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, the Diamondbacks, Padres series at Petco Park in San Diego certainly qualifies for the early week Series of Losers though the two teams are as different as night and day presently.
San Diego is as hot as any MLB team right now after winning their sixth consecutive series over the weekend from the Colorado Rockies who had been on a nice streak themselves. Since dropping three of four to the Cardinals at Petco in three weeks ago, the Padres are 13-5, beating playoff contenders in five of the six series they've played (Braves, Marlins, Dodgers, Giants and Rockies).
Arizona is on the exact opposite end of hot right now, winning just once in their last 10 and eight of their last 27. Two of their last three series have resulted in the Diamondbacks being swept, coming into this three-game set the victims of a sweep at home to the Brewers after being broomed in Colorado the previous weekend.
Offense has been missing from the D-Backs lineup for a couple of weeks. Arizona hitters have managed to score more than four runs in a game one time over their last 12, and that was in a 13-5 loss at the Rockies. Petco ain't exactly the best place to try and break out of a scoring slump.
The Padres' strong play actually started in late July when they started a their current 27-17 march by taking the last three of a four-game series in Cincinnati. Their 15-14 record in August doesn't seem like anything special until you see they went 1-6 in the season's fifth month against the Cardinals.
Keeping the other team off the pay station has been their forte, a good thing since their offense ranks last in all of baseball in scoring. Youngsters like Wade LeBlanc, who will start Game 2 of this series, and Tim Stauffer have strung together good starts. And having a closer like Heath Bell to sew things up at the end of games give them the chance to win the close ones, with five of the Pads' last six wins being one- or two-run victories.
As for the pitching matchups:
Oh, and I recommend the Marine Room in La Jolla. With the specials they’re running for Restaurant Week, it might be your only chance to afford the place.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 1, Mon, Sep 14, 10:05 p.m. (ET): Billy Buckner (2-7, 7.38) vs. Kevin Correia (17-12, 4.30)
Game 2, Tue, Sep 15, 10:05 p.m.: Dan Haren (17-12, 2.82) vs. Wade LeBlanc (3-2, 5.01)
Game 3, Wed, Sep 16, 3:35 p.m.: Doug Davis (11-19, 3.99) vs. Edward Mujica (1-0, 3.33)
WEATHER
Not the usually perfect San Diego weather, but nothing that should cause a game to be postponed. Monday should find a first-pitch high in the upper-60s, cloudy, 20% chance of wet stuff, NNW winds at 6-9 MPH (in from left-center). Should be partly cloudy, mid-60s on Tuesday evening with fewer clouds on Wednesday and warming into the low-70s as the afternoon game progresses.
Restaurant Week in SD...who's hungry?
It’s Restaurant Week in San Diego and the Padres plan to spend the next three days sampling the Snake Tacos with the Arizona Diamondbacks arriving in town.
A combined 34 games below par and each team at least 20 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, the Diamondbacks, Padres series at Petco Park in San Diego certainly qualifies for the early week Series of Losers though the two teams are as different as night and day presently.
San Diego is as hot as any MLB team right now after winning their sixth consecutive series over the weekend from the Colorado Rockies who had been on a nice streak themselves. Since dropping three of four to the Cardinals at Petco in three weeks ago, the Padres are 13-5, beating playoff contenders in five of the six series they've played (Braves, Marlins, Dodgers, Giants and Rockies).
Arizona is on the exact opposite end of hot right now, winning just once in their last 10 and eight of their last 27. Two of their last three series have resulted in the Diamondbacks being swept, coming into this three-game set the victims of a sweep at home to the Brewers after being broomed in Colorado the previous weekend.
Offense has been missing from the D-Backs lineup for a couple of weeks. Arizona hitters have managed to score more than four runs in a game one time over their last 12, and that was in a 13-5 loss at the Rockies. Petco ain't exactly the best place to try and break out of a scoring slump.
The Padres' strong play actually started in late July when they started a their current 27-17 march by taking the last three of a four-game series in Cincinnati. Their 15-14 record in August doesn't seem like anything special until you see they went 1-6 in the season's fifth month against the Cardinals.
Keeping the other team off the pay station has been their forte, a good thing since their offense ranks last in all of baseball in scoring. Youngsters like Wade LeBlanc, who will start Game 2 of this series, and Tim Stauffer have strung together good starts. And having a closer like Heath Bell to sew things up at the end of games give them the chance to win the close ones, with five of the Pads' last six wins being one- or two-run victories.
As for the pitching matchups:
- In Game 1, Billy Buckner lost his only start vs. SD in Arizona back in May (5 IP, 5 ER). The Padres are 1-2 in Kevin Correia's three starts this against the Snakes this year (17.2 IP, 10 ER). Chris Young, Mark Reynolds and Eric Byrnes have combined for six homers in 56 career AB (.268 AVG) vs. Correia.
- Dan Haren goes for the D-Backs on Tuesday and is 1-1 vs. the Pads this season, tossing a nice seven-inning, one-run gem at Petco on June 7 (a 9-6 Arizona win). San Diego has won LeBlanc's last three starts, all of them on the road, with the Lake Charles native working 19 innings and giving up six earned on 10 hits.
- Arizona is 2-1 in Doug Davis' three assignments vs. the Padres this season (20 IP, 4 ER), with Davis 7-1 personally in his last 11 starts against San Diego. This will be Edward Mujica's first start against the D-Backs though he has seen them five times this year out of the pen (6.2 IP, 1 ER).
Oh, and I recommend the Marine Room in La Jolla. With the specials they’re running for Restaurant Week, it might be your only chance to afford the place.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 1, Mon, Sep 14, 10:05 p.m. (ET): Billy Buckner (2-7, 7.38) vs. Kevin Correia (17-12, 4.30)
Game 2, Tue, Sep 15, 10:05 p.m.: Dan Haren (17-12, 2.82) vs. Wade LeBlanc (3-2, 5.01)
Game 3, Wed, Sep 16, 3:35 p.m.: Doug Davis (11-19, 3.99) vs. Edward Mujica (1-0, 3.33)
WEATHER
Not the usually perfect San Diego weather, but nothing that should cause a game to be postponed. Monday should find a first-pitch high in the upper-60s, cloudy, 20% chance of wet stuff, NNW winds at 6-9 MPH (in from left-center). Should be partly cloudy, mid-60s on Tuesday evening with fewer clouds on Wednesday and warming into the low-70s as the afternoon game progresses.
Restaurant Week in SD...who's hungry?
