Padres Welcome Fish to San Diego

May 6, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera (2) turns a double play ahead of the slide by Miami Marlins catcher Rob Brantly (19) during the seventh inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres will open a 4-game series with the Miami Marlins (19-15) tonight. In early April, the Padres dropped two out of three in Miami. Ian Kennedy (2-4, 3.43 ERA) looks to put a stop to the bleeding tonight against 22-year-old Jacob Turner (0-0, 9.90 ERA). The Marlins have surprised many with the start they have had. They are 3rd in the MLB in team batting average at .267. Their pitching has also been impressive, with a team ERA of 3.30. They also are tied with the Nationals for first place in the highly competitive NL East.

Padre pitching will have their hands full with Giancarlo Stanton, who is tied for 2nd in the majors with 10 HR and leads the entire league in RBI with 38. The Padres will throw out every pitcher in the rotation except Andrew Cashner. Game 2 features Tyson Ross (3-3, 3.30 ERA) against the young ace Jose Fernandez (4-1, 1.74 ERA). In Fernandez’s last start, he fanned 10 Dodgers over 7 innings. Eric Stults (1-3, 5.40 ERA) takes the mound in Game 3 against Nathan Eovaldi (2-1, 2.78 ERA), who is also coming off a 10-strikeout performance. Stults is still trying to get back into form. The finale features the young gun Robbie Erlin (1-4, 4.95 ERA) against Henderson Alvarez (2-2, 2.62 ERA), who pitched a complete game shutout against the Mets.

The Padres need to find their hitting shoes again. Monday’s 6-run game against the Royals showed a lot of promise. However, we cannot cling to that one game for too long. There needs to be consistency. Yasmani Grandal has had a good week. Jedd Gyorko has shown flashes of his 23-home run power of 2013. Also, we have to acknowledge the fact that Cameron Maybin has been a much-needed boost. Since coming off the DL, he has a .379 average,  11 hits, 5 doubles and he has hit in 7 of the 9 games he has played. Here’s hoping he can continue that trend against his former team.