Fansided

Padres Head Home To Welcome Snakes

By Nick Lee |
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Jun 21, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock (11) hits a two RBI single in the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres (35-40) limp on home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks (35-37) to start their home stand. They travel home after a 3-5 road trip and a tough shootout loss to the Giants 13 to 8.

The Diamondbacks are still ahead of the Padres in the NL West. They are currently 1 1/2 games ahead of the Padres for third place. They are coming from a series loss in Denver to the Colorado Rockies. Offensively, the Diamondbacks are 7th in the major leagues with a .262 average. They are also a threat to steal bases as they are second in the majors with 63 steals.

The Padres do have the upper hand in pitching, even with the staff not living up to expectations. The starting rotation has a significant advantage over that of the D-backs. That won’t matter if the Padres don’t hit. That sounds familiar. The Padres need to break the trend of not being able to come through with the bats. They showed signs of that in San Francisco.

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Jun 20, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross (38) throws during the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Game 1 Friday, 7:10pm

Tyson Ross (4-7, 3.61 ERA) vs. Robbie Ray (2-2, 1.78 ERA)

Ross’ last start came against these very D-backs on June 20th. He had one of the best pitching performances of the year by any Padres pitcher, going the distance with his first complete game of the season while striking out nine. He historically has pitched well against Arizona. In 10 starts he has a 2.73 ERA. Ross looks to duplicate his last outing. He has had trouble putting consecutive quality starts together.

Ray had to face Ross on that night when Ross could do no wrong. The Padres have hit lefties well this season and that was the story during Ray’s last start. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits. This will be the second start of his career against San Diego.

Last week the Padres won 8-1 thanks to home runs by Derek Norris and Melvin Upton. Ray also surrendered three doubles to the Padres that night. The only Diamondback that really got to Ross was catcher Welington Castillo. He had an RBI double.

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Jun 3, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Justin Upton (10) singles during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Game 2 Saturday, 7:10pm

Andrew Cashner (2-9, 4.35 ERA) vs. Jeremy Hellickson (5-4, 5.94 ERA)

Cashner has been absolutely abysmal his last few times out. In his last two starts, he has a combined nine innings pitched with eight earned runs off of nine hits and five walks. This is not counting the unearned runs that have scored while he was pitching. He has not won a start since May 27th. He has a 3.27 ERA in 11 career starts against the Diamondbacks. His last start came against these D-backs as well and only lasted four innings.

Hellickson has faced the Padres three times already this season. He is 1-1 and has allowed 12 runs in those three starts. The Friars have also homered off Hellickson three times this season. Yonder Alonso and Will Venable had multi-hit games against him last week.

Hellickson has a 6.75 ERA in four starts against the Friars. Justin Upton is hitting .375 with a home run off of him.

The hottest hitter for the D-backs right now is A.J. Pollock. He has eight hits in his last six games with a home run, two doubles and four runs scored.

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Jun 23, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne (40) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Game 3, 1:10pm

Odrisamer Despaigne (3-5, 4.83 ERA) vs. Chase Anderson (3-2, 3.54 ERA)

Aside from a hiccup in Oakland, Despaigne has been one of the best pitchers on this staff in the last few weeks. He has allowed two runs or less in 5 of his last 7 starts. However, the last time he pitched against the Diamondbacks it did not go well. He allowed 8 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings. He has a 4.21 ERA in 6 starts against the D-backs.

David Peralta seems to have Despaigne’s number, hitting .462 against him.

Anderson last faced the Padres on May 9th and pitched well. He went 7 innings while only allowing one run. In his two seasons in the big leagues, he has faced the Padres 5 times. He is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA. Matt Kemp is 4 for 11 with a home run and four RBI against Anderson.

The Friars desperately need a series win here. I think they will get it. The offense is riding some momentum after the Giants series when they scored 6 runs in one inning on Thursday. As they hit the halfway mark into the 2015 season, they need to turn things around real fast if they have any hopes of October baseball. The NL West has weakened in the past month which still leaves the door open for San Diego. They must take advantage.

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