Game Preview: Padres Need to Hit if They Want to Win

Carlos Quentin-Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres take on the New York Mets tonight to begin a three-game series. The Mets send 16-year veteran Bartolo Colon (5-5, 4.31 ERA) to the hill to face the Padres tonight. Hopefully Chase Headley can get the offense going, he has a lifetime batting average of .323 (31-for-96) against the Mets. However, Headley has only had one previous at-bat against Colon, which ended in a strike out. Out of the entire Padres’ roster, only Carlos Quentin has faced Colon more than once in his career. Quentin is 3-for-4 lifetime against Colon. Although a small sample size, Quentin owns a slash line of .750/.800/1.000 in those four at-bats. With Quentin batting clean-up tonight, the Friars need the table setters to get on base so Quentin will be able to do damage.

The Padres send Andrew Cashner (2-5, 2.13 ERA) to face-off against Colon. Out of his last 17 starts, Cashner has earned 14 quality starts dating back to last season. During that stretch he owns a 4-8 record (this would be better if he was on a different team) with a 1.72 ERA, while striking out 97.

First pitch is at 4:10 pm PDT. The Padres will need to start winning if they want to keep their manager Bud Black around. There has been grumbling from team owners and executives about the frustration with the teams’ horrible offense. If progress is not made, Black and his coaching staff will get the ax.

Friar Facts:

–          Through 66 games, the Padres pitching staff owns the eighth-best ERA in baseball with a dazzling 3.51 ERA.

–          The Padres are one of two teams to have not lost a game when leading after seven innings (19-0). The Marlins are the other team (24-0).

–          When scoring four or more runs in a game, the Padres own a record of 21-4. It is too bad the Padres’ offense is horrible and this doesn’t happen as often as it could.

Keep the Faith.