Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres (71-81) start a 3-game weekend series against the San Francisco Giants (84-68). The Giants are in the heat of the playoff race, as they lead the Wild Card standings by 2 games on the Pirates and they are also 2.5 games back of the Dodgers for the NL West division lead.
The Giants are coming off a series win on the road against the Diamondbacks. The Padres are fresh off a series win against the Phillies. The Giants are without Matt Cain and Marco Scutaro for the rest of the season. Michael Morse and Angel Pagan are also banged up but we may see them return sometime this weekend. The Padres have a bit of a banged up bullpen, but Blaine Boyer and Joaquin Benoit could both pitch before this series is over. The Padres need to be at their best to win this series, since the Giants are scrapping for a playoff spot.