While a lack of hitting was the biggest factor in the San Diego Padres’ struggles at midseason, poor starting pitching was an issue as well.
But in an 18-7 stretch that has lifted them from below .500 to the last National League wild-card spot with 34 games left, it’s the rotation that has become one of the team’s most reliable weapons.
San Diego will look to keep its run of good pitching going on Friday night when it opens a three-game series with the visiting Minnesota Twins.
After logging only 21 quality starts in their first 113 games, the Padres have nine in their last 15, including four in a row and five of the last six. That includes 6 2/3 innings Wednesday from Michael King, albeit in a 4-2 loss at the New York Mets.
“I think we can easily build off each other,” King said. “It’s great seeing success deep into games. We can then communicate how we got there, seeing different tendencies. It’s nice to have that healthy competition.”
Randy Vasquez (8-6, 4.30 ERA) may be tasked with keeping that success going. His last outing was Saturday night in Cleveland, where he worked five innings of bulk relief after two openers started a 6-1 loss.
Vasquez gave up seven hits and four runs, walking one and fanning five. If he pitches, he will be facing Minnesota for the first time in his four-year major league career. The Padres hadn’t officially named a starter as of Thursday.
San Diego is coming off a 3-3 road trip that left it a game ahead of Arizona in the wild-card race. The Padres hope to get Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill, who were a combined 8-for-44 on the road trip, hitting at the level they did for most of the 3 1/2 weeks after the All-Star break.
The Twins flew to San Diego on Wednesday after polishing off a 6-4 win over Atlanta that gave them a sweep of the interleague series and the last wild-card spot in the American League. At 63-65, Minnesota owns a half-game lead on Texas, pending the outcome of its game Thursday night with Washington.
If nothing else, sweeping the Braves after suffering a similar fate last weekend against Philadelphia was the response first-year manager Derek Shelton wanted.
“It’s a situation of like, how are they going to respond or what are you going to say,” Shelton said. “One of the things I’m most proud of with the culture of our group is I really don’t have to say much to them. They handle themselves extremely well.”
Rookie Connor Prielipp (3-6, 5.34) takes the ball for the Twins in the series opener. He last pitched in a 9-1 loss Saturday night against Philadelphia, permitting eight hits and eight runs over five innings with four walks and six strikeouts. This will be his first outing against San Diego.
Minnesota has used offense to make up for a pitching staff ranked 26th in the majors in team ERA. The Twins entered Thursday ninth in the majors in runs (592), thanks in part to big years from Byron Buxton (25 homers), Josh Bell (77 RBIs) and Kody Clemens (21 homers, 61 RBIs).
Minnesota won two of three when the teams met last season in Minneapolis.
–Field Level Media
