The Friar travels to Great American Ballpark for a weekend matchup against the Reds starting Friday. As June comes to a close, A.J. Preller's club prepares to enter trade deadline season on a high note. Here's what you need to know ahead of game one:
Coming off a winning homestand, the Padres (44-36, 2nd in NL West) look to keep the vibes high in The Queen City after defeating the Washington Nationals on Wednesday in a 1-0 shutout. Nick Pivetta spun a gem, collecting his eighth victory of the campaign. The right-hander struck out 10 batters in seven brilliant innings of work, while Luis Arraez provided the contest's lone run.
The Reds (42-39, 4th in NL Central) search for a triumphant homestand of their own. Although they dropped Wednesday's series finale to the New York Yankees by a score of 7-1, Cincinnati took two of three games against the Bronx Bombers, receiving strong performances from their pitching staff in the series' first two games.
Pitching matchups
Friday: Padres RHP Dylan Cease (3-6, 4.43 ERA) vs. Reds RHP Nick Martinez (4-8, 4.40 ERA) 4:10 p.m. PT
San Diego will have Dylan Cease on the bump to start the weekend. The hard-throwing right-hander pitched a wonderful 6 2/3 innings in his last outing against the Kansas City Royals, surrendering one run on three hits. He picked up four strikeouts, which is unusual from Cease, but his command looked a lot sharper and cleaner. He'll look for his fourth victory of the campaign.
Countering will be another former Friar in veteran Nick Martinez. Seeing another ex-Padre in less than a week, a trend that general manager A.J. Preller probably hopes ends soon, Martinez gets his first start since June 19 versus the Minnesota Twins. The 34 year-old struggled mightily, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits through only 2 2/3 innings of labor. Since then he's made two scoreless relief appearances out of the bullpen.
Saturday: Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.60 ERA) vs. Reds LHP Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA) 1:10 p.m. PT
One of the guys that's held down the fort for the Padres, Randy Vásquez, will go in game two. He's coming off a career-high seven innings pitched against the Royals on Sunday. The only blemish on his line was a two-run homer from Salvador Perez. Vásquez is searching for his first individual victory since May 14, taking a loss and six consecutive no-decisions after that.
In the midst of a breakout in his third big league season, left-hander Andrew Abbott faces the Friars for the third time in his career. He's coming off a stellar seven-inning performance against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which he only allowed one earned run on four hits. Six of Abbott's 13 starts this season have been quality outings, including a complete game shutout over the Cleveland Guardians on June 10. In two career outings against San Diego, the 26 year-old is 1-0 with a 0.61 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings thrown against them.
Sunday: Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (3-3, 3.95 ERA) vs. Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (5-5, 3.63 ERA) 10:40 a.m. PT
Righty Stephen Kolek will close out the three game set for the Padres. In his latest start, he cruised through his first three innings of work against the Nationals, but unraveled by giving up four runs in the fourth inning. Kolek would only pitch 4 1/3 innings after surrendering five hits and committing an error. He'll look for a bounce back outing this time around.
The Reds' first round pick in 2019, Nick Lodolo will make his 17th start of the campaign. Having a decent year on the mound, the lefty's last start was cut short at 4 1/3 innings after tossing 94 total pitches against the Yankees. He's struggled while pitching at home, posting a 5.06 ERA with a .273 batting average against in eight starts at Great American Ballpark this season.
Who's hot?
Padres:
1B Luis Arraez is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak that stems back to June 14. He's collected seven extra-base hits in the month of June and is batting .338 in his last 15 games. 2B Jake Cronenworth is reaching base at a .333 clip in his last seven contests. LHP Adrian Morejon continues to dominate out of the Padres pen. He has not allowed a run since May 23, while striking out 15 batters in 15 innings throughout the stretch.
Reds:
SS Elly De La Cruz is hitting .346 with seven homers and 15 RBI in June. He comes into the series with a six game hitting streak. 1B Spencer Steer has a .915 OPS in his last seven games while going 11-for-28 at the dish. RHP Emilio Pagán is on a roll as Cincinnati's closer, posting a 1.08 ERA this month. The right-hander has also racked up 13 strikeouts while only issuing four walks in his last 8 1/3 innings tossed.
Early takeaways
Entering the series, the Padres are in possession of the third NL Wild Card and hold a two and a half game lead over Cincinnati for the coveted spot. Earning a series win this weekend would create even more separation between the two clubs as the postseason race heats up. Also noteworthy, is the potential return of Yu Darvish to the Padres' starting rotation. Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Darvish threw a three-inning simulated game in Lake Elsinore, throwing 51 pitches while maxing out at 94 mph on his fastball velocity. He struck out six batters and allowed three hits. The veteran righty has been incredibly missed by a San Diego rotation that is already without Joe Musgrove for the year due to Tommy John surgery last October and ace Michael King who has been sidelined with a pinched nerve in his right shoulder.
The Reds will look to keep creeping up the Wild Card standings. After facing the Padres, Cincinnati will see three NL squads right before the All-Star break. They'll play a tough Philadelphia Phillies club over Independence Day weekend, but will square off against the middling Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies to end the season's first half. With perhaps an ace pitcher in no. 1 prospect Chase Burns on the big league roster, now would be the time for skipper Terry Francona to activate the 'Big Red Machine' if they want to make a push for October baseball.