Friars On Base
Fansided

San Diego Padres series preview: Padres vs. San Francisco Giants

ByLawrence Doppelt|
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 12: Steven Duggar #6 of the San Francisco Giants scores a run past Austin Hedges #18 of the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning at Oracle Park on June 12, 2019 in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 12: Steven Duggar #6 of the San Francisco Giants scores a run past Austin Hedges #18 of the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning at Oracle Park on June 12, 2019 in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

The San Diego Padres will host the National League West rival San Francisco Giants for a three-game series on Monday. How do these teams match up this time around?

The San Diego Padres are riding a series win against the St. Louis Cardinals, sporting a 42-41 record as the season approaches the All-Star game.

The San Francisco Giants, now in their rebuilding years, are 36-47, having gone 5-5 in their last 10 games.

While the Giants sit in the cellar of the National League West, divisional games should never to be taken lightly. The last time these two teams played, the Giants swept the two-game series despite a seven-win differential.

More from Friars on Base

This time around feels different, however.

In June, the Padres were coming off of three straight series losses and a split against the Washington Nationals.

They were 4-6 in their last 10 at the time, and the Game 1 loss to San Francisco brought the Friars below .500 for the first time in nearly a month.

Now, the Padres look poised to beat up on the Giants and show how good teams pummel the bad ones. San Francisco has just secured their first winning month since June 2018.

The batting leader for the Giants is 1B/3B Pablo Sandoval, who’s hitting .284/.320/.877. He has a 3.58 wOBA and leads the team in WAR with 1.1.

Take that with a grain of salt, however, as he has only 182 plate appearances on the year.

Kevin Pillar has been great for the Giants and is currently slashing .250/.280/.707 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs. Pillar has fared well against the Padres this season, going 4-for-16 with three home runs and 10 RBIs against the Friars in 2019.

Pillar will be coming off of a spectacular night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, finishing 4-for-5 with five RBIs and a home run.

San Francisco expects to send out Jeff Samardzija (4-7) for the series opener to face Logan Allen. He owns a 4.52 ERA, 4.73 FIP, and 1.291 WHIP.  Samadrzija has played well in his 18 career games against the Padres, going 8-3 with a 3.46 ERA.

Allen has been phenomenal in his first couple rookie starts, going 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 2.81 FIP, and 1.154 WHIP. Though a very small sample size, his starts have been promising, including a stellar debut featuring seven scoreless innings.

More from Padres News

While his second game wasn’t as dazzling, Allen still turned some heads with another win. It’ll be fun to monitor his development over the season.

Meanwhile, Game 2 will pit Tyler Beede (1-3) against Matt Strahm (3-6).

Beede had a tough game against the Padres his last go-around, which was his first start of the season – he allowed four earned runs off of five hits through only 4.2 innings.

He hasn’t fared much better since, as he owns a 6.45 ERA and 1.858 WHIP on the season. His 5.85 FIP, however, suggests he’s had some bad luck or poor defensive play behind him in the field.

While Strahm had a bounce-back game against the Baltimore Orioles, he’s continued to struggle on the mound. His last outing saw an impressive nine strikeouts and no walks, but he allowed four runs off of five hits through six innings. His ERA has jumped from 3.21 at the end of May to 4.94 at the end of June, and he now has a 4.93 FIP and 1.232 WHIP.

Finally, the rubber match will feature Shaun Anderson (3-2) vs. Eric Lauer (5-7). The rookie Anderson has had a solid June, becoming one of the Giants’ more reliable, consistent pitchers. He sports a 3.86 ERA and 4.27 FIP with a 1.344 WHIP.

In his last start against the Diamondbacks, Anderson allowed only two runs off of seven hits through 5.2 innings. His prior game against the Friars featured two runs through six innings.

Eric Lauer will have a chance to improve on his last start against the Cardinals, when he allowed six hits and struck out three batters. Though he only surrendered one run, the Cardinals’ poor base-running helped him out, going only 2-for-7 with RISP and leaving six runners on base through Lauer’s four innings alone.

The Padres vs. Giants series will begin on July 1, 2019 at 7:10 pm PT/10:10 pm ET. For complete coverage of the San Diego Padres’ 2019 season, continue following Friars on Base all season long.

Home/Padres News

Schedule