San Diego heads to The Sunshine State after a great weekend in Washington D.C. Let's take a glance at what to expect in the midweek matchup at loanDepot park.
The Padres (54-45, 2nd in NL West) secured the season series against the Nationals with a 8-1 win on Sunday afternoon. Rotation anchor Nick Pivetta tossed six innings of one run baseball and struck out five batters to secure his 10th victory of the season. Offensively, San Diego's bats got the job done, pouncing on ex-Friar MacKenzie Gore for a five run first inning, including a Xander Bogaerts grand slam.
The Marlins (46-52, 3rd in NL East) took two of three from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, but dropped the series finale in a 7-4 loss. Xavier Edwards and Agustín Ramírez each notched two RBIs, while starter Janson Junk allowed five earned runs on six hits through five innings of work.
San Diego encountered the pesky Fish at Petco Park in late May, taking a hard fought series that saw a wild back-and-forth finale that ended in a 10-8 Miami victory.
Pitching matchups
Monday: Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.80 ERA) vs. Marlins RHP Eury Pérez (3-2, 3.18 ERA) 3:40 p.m. PT
Randy Vásquez will make his first start of the second-half of 2025 in the series opener. The righty last pitched on July 10 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving up two earned runs on five hits through 4 1/3 innings, taking a no-decision in the process. He's searching for his first individual win since May 14 versus the Los Angeles Angels.
Eury Pérez fanned six Orioles hitters across seven shutout frames in his last outing before the All-Star break. The 6'8" right-hander has made seven starts after being activated off the 60-day IL due to Tommy John surgery in April 2024.
Tuesday: Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (3-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. Marlins RHP Edward Cabrera (3-4, 3.61 ERA) 3:40 p.m. PT
Edward Cabrera gets the start for the Fish in the series' middle game. The 27 year-old took a loss in his last start at Camden Yards, only lasting four innings while surrendering four earned runs. Before that start, Cabrera had pitched at least 5 1/3 innings in each of his previous four outings.
Right-hander Stephen Kolek will be on the taxi squad and activated to start for the Padres on Tuesday. Kolek last pitched in the big leagues on July 5 against the Texas Rangers. He took the loss, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in the outing. He'll look to fill some innings on the road for San Diego, as he's been comfortable pitching away from Petco Park, going 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 35 strikeouts in those starts.
Wednesday: Padres RHP Dylan Cease (3-9, 4.64 ERA) vs. Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara (4-9, 7.14 ERA) 9:10 a.m. PT
Dylan Cease hopes to continue what seemed to be the start of a turning point for his season at Nationals Park on Friday night. He threw 5 1/3 innings against the Nats, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out 10 batters. He's struggled pitching on the road this year, posting a 5.68 ERA in those starts. Hopefully for him, his last outing was a sign of things to come.
Perhaps one of this year's most notable trade deadline candidates, 2022 Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara has struggled immensely this season. He's allowed 15 earned runs and issued five walks in his last three starts. Alcantara faced the Padres on May 28 and surrendered six runs across four innings.
Who's hot?
Padres:
SS Xander Bogaerts is slashing .333/.400/.505 over his last month of play. He went 4-for-13 with a grand slam over the weekend versus the Nationals. 3B Manny Machado owns a 1.118 OPS over his last seven contests. He also hit a grand slam of his own in D.C., icing a 7-2 San Diego win on Friday. 2B Jake Cronenworth has reached base at a .382 clip in his last 47 at-bats.
Marlins:
LF Kyle Stowers is on a heater, launching five homers in his last seven games to go along with 11 RBIs. He has a 1.286 slugging percentage in that span. 2B Xavier Edwards went 4-for-12 against the Royals over the weekend with two doubles and a triple. RF Jesús Sánchez has a .300 BA in his last 20 at-bats.
Early takeaways
San Diego has gained ground in both the division and Wild Card races coming out of the All-Star break. They now trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by just 3 1/2 games in the NL West and increased their lead on the third NL Wild Card spot by 2 1/2 games. It'd be a dream scenario if they caught lightning in a bottle twice, by either replicating or coming close to the 19-4 stretch they went through their first seven series' coming out of last year's break. They've been good against sub .500 teams this season, posting a 31-9 (.775) record, the best mark in Major League Baseball. The Marlins though, have been hot in their own right as of late. It'll be a good test for the Friars, as they face Miami's best starters this series.
The Marlins will have some interesting names to go along with Alcantara at this year's trade deadline. Jesús Sánchez and Edward Cabrera will be commodities for contending teams the next week and a half. As we saw earlier this season though, the Fish fight until the last out. Although they aren't in position to contend this season, there's certainly more positives to look at this season for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and the rest of the front office.