The San Diego Padres will be conducting a deep dive for production with runners in scoring position when they visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
The Padres were 0-for-21 with runners in scoring position when they were swept in a three-game series at home by the Seattle Mariners over the weekend.
That includes going 0-for-6 during Sunday’s 6-1 loss in the series finale. They were outscored 15-3 over the three games to complete a 2-4 homestand.
“They threw the ball exceptionally well,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “No concern on my part at all. Just get back to playing our game. We know what that looks like. We’ll be ready on Tuesday.”
The Padres’ Jackson Merrill is 1-for-19 over his past five games after going 0-for-3 with a walk on Sunday.
“We didn’t cash in opportunities this series,” Merrill said “We got to the spots that we needed to be in, and we just didn’t capitalize.
Fernando Tatis Jr. delivered the Padres’ lone run Sunday on a home run in the first inning.
The Blue Jays did not have nearly as much against the Mariners in a May 9-11 series, sweeping the three-game set at Seattle to complete a 4-2 road trip.
Success since then has been harder to come by as they went 2-4 upon their return home. Toronto’s nine-game homestand will conclude with the Padres’ visit.
The Blue Jays fell 3-2 to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, dropping two of the three games in the series, with each game decided by one run.
“We were in a lot of really tight games against a really good team,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Probably happen again on Tuesday. It shows the fight. It shows the will and the want to win, which is great.”
The Padres are expected to start right-hander Dylan Cease (1-2, 4.60 ERA) on Tuesday to start their six-game road trip. Cease is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two career starts against the Blue Jays but has not faced them since 2022.
Toronto right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-2, 3.16) is in line to pitch in Tuesday’s series opener. He is 1-3 with a 4.44 ERA in five career starts against San Diego.
While the Padres’ offensive problems are more of a recent occurrence, the Blue Jays have struggled all season to find consistency with their bats despite recent improvement.
“It will come together,” Schneider said. “And when it does, it will be a lot less stressful.”
Offseason free-agent signing Anthony Santander is off to a slow start and struck out three times on Sunday, while going 0-for-4. He did not start against the Tigers on Friday or Saturday with soreness in his shoulder and hip.
Santander is batting .182 with a .308 slugging percentage that incudes with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 41 games.
“I thought he took some really good swings (Sunday),” Schneider said. “I thought he just missed some balls. That’s kind of been the story of his season.”
Among Blue Jays players who have shown improvement at the plate is catcher Alejandro Kirk. He had RBI singles in each of the past two games.
Kirk was 2-for-4 on Sunday and is batting .377 (20-for-53) with two home runs and 10 RBIs over his past 14 games.
Infielder Ernie Clement also has been productive, batting .348 (16-for-46) with a home run and five RBIs in his past 14 games. He had a walk-off single Saturday.
–Field Level Media
