For the first time in nearly two months, the San Diego Padres have won back-to-back series, taking consecutive rubber-match victories over the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.
After dropping 11 of 13 games and plummeting in the NL West standings, San Diego has rattled off four wins last in their last six games with the help of an offense slowly coming back to life.
The Padres (37-33, 2nd in NL West) continue a nine-game road trip with the middle three games against the St. Louis Cardinals (38-31, 2nd in NL Central), one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season.
After moving on from veterans Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan in the offseason, the Cardinals appeared destined for a full-scale rebuild. Instead, St. Louis has emerged as one of baseball's brightest storylines, entering the week leading the National League wild-card standings through 69 games.
A big reason for the success? The bat of right fielder Jordan Walker, who leads the Cardinals in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. After two straight disappointing seasons following his breakout rookie campaign in 2023, when he slashed .276/.342/.445 across 117 games, the 24-year-old has bounced back in a huge way, entering the series tied for the major league lead with 56 RBIs.
Walker isn't the only young player guiding St. Louis. Rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt has delivered in the early stages of his debut season, hitting .255 with 10 homers in 65 games. The 2024 first-round pick slugged a go-ahead two-run blast against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, marking his first homer since May 15.
Since the disastrous 13-game stretch, the Padres have managed to secure back-to-back series victories for the first time since April 17-23, when they took two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies.
San Diego's offense, a major cause for concern in the team's recent skid, has shown signs of improvement over the last six games, averaging 5.17 runs per game after scoring just 2.13 a game during the 13-game span.
That offense will need to carry its recent success into St. Louis where they will conclude the season series against the Cardinals. These two teams met back in early May at Petco Park — splitting a four-game series.
St. Louis took the first two games with back-to-back impressive performances from the pitching staff, surrendering a lone run to San Diego in a 2-1 win in the series opener before blanking the Padres the following day.
San Diego responded with consecutive victories of their own, leaning on the strength of their bullpen and a walk-off sacrifice fly from Manny Machado to even the season-series at two apiece.
Pitching Matchups
Monday, June 15, 4:45 PM, MLB.TV: RHP Lucas Giolito (2-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. RHP Dustin May (4-6, 4.21 ERA)
The opening game of the series pits former teammates against one another as Giolito gets the ball for San Diego looking for his third win while St. Louis counters with May who makes his 14th start of the season. The two shared a clubhouse together in the back half of last season with the Boston Red Sox after May was traded from the Dodgers at the trade deadline. Both right handers hit free agency in the offseason and elected to seek other opportunities. Giolito and May each agreed to a one-year contracts that include a mutual option for 2027.
Tuesday, June 16, 4:45 PM, MLB.TV/TBS: RHP Michael King (4-5, 3.46 ERA) vs. RHP Andre Pallante (7-4, 3.88 ERA)
Game 2 features a marquee pitching matchup between Michael King, San Diego's ERA leader among starters, and Andre Pallante, who leads St. Louis in wins. Pallante makes his first start against San Diego this season while King will look to match the success he had against St. Louis on May 7, in which he tossed six innings, allowing one run and striking out six.
Wednesday, June 17, 11:15 AM, MLB.TV: RHP Griffin Canning (0-5, 7.17 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Leahy (5-3, 4.64 ERA)
The season finale marks a much-needed bounce back start for Canning, who allowed seven runs in five innings against Baltimore. Leahy searches to replicate his strong start against San Diego from May 10, when the right-hander punched out five across five scoreless innings.
Injury Report
San Diego: SP Matt Waldron (forearm) 15-day IL, C Luis Campusano (toe) 10-day IL, RP Jeremy Estrada (right knee inflammation) 15-day IL, C Freddy Fermin (concussion) 7-day IL, DH Miguel Andujar (hamstring) 10-day IL.
St. Louis: RP Ryan Fernandez (back) 15-day IL, RP Zack Thompson (shoulder) Day-to-Day, 3B Ramon Urias (elbow) 60-day IL.