One day after the San Francisco Giants sent a message that offensive help could soon be on the way, the San Diego Padres hope their own prospect can contribute again as they go for a third straight road win on Wednesday night.
Mired in an offensive slump that dates back to mid-May, the Giants wasted a second consecutive gem from their starting pitcher Tuesday in a 3-2 loss in 10 innings to their National League West rival.
Coming close to duplicating Logan Webb’s eight shutout innings in a 1-0, 10-inning defeat in the series opener, Landen Roupp shut out the Padres for 6 1/3 innings in the loss on Tuesday. But for the sixth time in the past eight games, San Francisco was not able to give its pitchers more than two runs of support.
The slumping club gave its fans something to get excited about when it announced that top prospect, slugging first baseman Bryce Eldridge, had been promoted to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. He’s now just a 90-minute drive from a big-league home in San Francisco.
The 6-foot-7 Eldridge is just 20. He’s ranked as the No. 21 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Later Tuesday, Giants manager Bob Melvin lamented about the pitching performances his club has watched go to waste over a 16-game stretch in which the offense hasn’t produced more than four runs.
“We can’t just say, ‘Leave it up to the pitching and shut them out,'” Melvin said. “It’s something that’s been a problem for us for a while. Now it’s another game where we don’t score enough runs and put a lot of pressure on the pitching again.”
In search of their first win of the season over the Padres in five tries, the Giants will turn to left-hander Kyle Harrison (1-1, 2.51 ERA) on Wednesday. Harrison has been involved in two low-scoring games since rejoining the Giants’ starting rotation last month — a 3-0 road loss to the Washington Nationals on May 24 and a 2-0 triumph over the Miami Marlins on Friday.
He’s made two previous starts against the Padres, going 1-1 with a 6.17 ERA. Six different Padres — including Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts — homered off him in those games.
Harrison has never faced Padres prospect Brandon Lockridge, who entered Tuesday’s game as a defensive replacement before delivering the first two-hit performance of his career.
The 28-year-old, acquired from the New York Yankees last July, insists he’s starting to settle in after getting into just 12 games — with two hits — for the Padres last season.
“Consistent (at-bats) help you get kind of in a rhythm,” he said. “I currently feel as good as I’ve felt all year at the plate. I just feel like I’m seeing the ball well, putting together some decent at-bats and hitting some balls hard.”
Seeking a fourth consecutive win, the Padres are scheduled to send righty Nick Pivetta (6-2, 2.74) to the mound.
Pivetta, 32, pitched a 7-4 home win over the Giants on April 29, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He improved his career record to 2-1 with a 5.30 ERA in six outings (three starts) against San Francisco.
Pivetta has gone unbeaten in his past three starts, allowing a total of just 12 hits and four runs to the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates over 18 innings.
–Field Level Media
