The weekend didn’t go the way the San Diego Padres hoped it would.
Holding a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, San Diego was swept out of Chavez Ravine, losing Sunday 5-4 to fall two games out of first place in the division.
The Padres will try to pick up the pieces on Monday night when they start a seven-game homestand with the first of four games against the San Francisco Giants. San Diego might have to play the opener without ailing center fielder Jackson Merrill.
An injury-plagued sophomore year for Merrill continued Sunday when he departed the game because of an ankle injury after striking out twice. He has served separate stints on the injured list this year with hamstring and concussion problems.
“(The ankle has) been bothering him a little bit,” San Diego manager Mike Shildt said after Sunday’s loss. “He tweaked it a little bit (Saturday night), and it felt a little ginger in the first couple of at-bats, so we just wanted to get ahead of it a little bit.”
The Padres fell to 2-8 against Los Angeles this year, meaning that if the teams end the season in a tie, the Dodgers will win a tiebreaker. Their last series of the regular season is next weekend at Petco Park.
“Are we disappointed? Absolutely,” Shildt said. “But it strengthens our resolve. It didn’t go our way, but we have another game (Monday).”
And in that game, San Diego will go with left-hander Nestor Cortes (1-1, 5.71 ERA), who has pitched passably in two short starts since being acquired from Milwaukee at the July 31 trading deadline.
He started a 5-1 win Tuesday night in San Francisco, lasting 4 2/3 innings and allowing one run on six hits and a walk while striking out six. Cortes has a no-decision in both of his career starts against the Giants, with a 4.00 ERA.
San Francisco will counter with lefty Robbie Ray (9-6, 2.98), the losing pitcher on Tuesday. Ray gave up four runs on seven hits over six innings, walking one and striking out four. He’s 1-1 in two starts this year vs. the Padres and owns a 6-7 record with a 4.25 ERA in 20 career starts against them.
The Giants might be happy to get on the road this week.
Their 7-1 win Sunday over Tampa Bay snapped a seven-game losing streak, all at Oracle Park, where they have dropped 15 of their last 17 games. A team that was in playoff contention at the trading deadline is now six games behind the New York Mets in the hunt for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
Giants shortstop Willy Adames provided arguably the biggest highlight in Sunday’s win by scoring from first base on Dominic Smith’s two-run single in the sixth inning. Adames took advantage of a missed cutoff man to turn the play into three runs and an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
Adames said he was looking to fire up his team with the mad dash around the bases.
“Stuff like that can change the momentum for the team,” he said.
San Francisco is 2-7 in nine matchups with San Diego this year, including a three-game sweep at home by the Padres last week by a combined score of 20-3.
–Field Level Media
