Two teams coming off four-game weekend sweeps will try to sweep each other beginning Tuesday night when the Seattle Mariners visit the San Diego Padres in the first contest of a three-game series.
While Seattle finished its sweep of visiting Houston on Monday with a 6-2 decision, San Diego polished off its home sweep of Colorado on Sunday with a 7-2 rout, its fifth straight victory and eighth in nine games.
Offense has been the key to the Padres’ surge. They rolled up 28 runs in sweeping the Rockies, hitting nine homers. Gavin Sheets and Ramon Laureano belted a pair, while Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts also joined the boom brigade.
“We don’t really care who’s ever on the mound,” Merrill said. “Doesn’t matter. Throwing 100 (mph), throwing 85 … just be ready at all times.”
San Diego’s earlier struggles (a 2-5 start) could be traced to two factors — facing a spate of aces and poor luck on batted balls. The Padres made more than their fair share of outs on hard-hit balls in the poor start, as reflected in their .227 batting average.
Whether it was the team facing Colorado’s hittable pitching or the law of averages at work, more hard-hit balls over the weekend either found green grass or bleacher seats. The Padres’ 16 homers this season are tied for 13th and their 74 runs rank 11th, respectively, in the National League.
Laureano leads the team with four homers and appears to be leading the batting order as well. Manager Craig Stammen tried Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth atop the order at times in the first 1 1/2 weeks but has settled on the right-handed-hitting Laureano (.268 batting average, 11 RBIs in 15 games).
“We feel really good about him against either right-handed or left-handed pitching,” Stammen said.
Right-hander Michael King will start Tuesday night’s game for the Padres. King (1-1, 3.24 ERA) pitched into the seventh inning Wednesday during an 8-2 triumph in Pittsburgh, allowing two runs off four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
King is 0-3 with a 2.84 ERA in five career outings (three starts) against Seattle.
If the past is any guide, he will have to be sharp on Tuesday because Mariners starter Bryan Woo (0-1, 1.50 ERA) normally pitches well against the Padres. The right-hander has won all three career starts against San Diego, posting a 2.33 ERA and walking only two batters in 19 2/3 innings.
Woo last pitched on Wednesday, absorbing a 3-0 loss to the host Texas Rangers despite allowing only one earned run in five innings. An throwing error by Seattle first baseman Connor Joe broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth, and the Mariners couldn’t overcome the deficit.
But their bats came alive in four games against Houston’s foundering rotation, scoring 29 runs. Josh Naylor was the star on Monday, clocking a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third.
Naylor isn’t a fan of the big leg kick some hitters use for timing purposes but opted to try it after struggling to begin the season.
“I think you try things sometimes and hope it works, and if it doesn’t, try something else,” he said. “I think this game is a big trial-and-error game. You work your hardest to be the best you can be.”
–Field Level Media
