San Francisco @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( May 13, 2010 ) San Diego 1, San Francisco 0
Fresh off a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros, the San Francisco Giants can now get back to figuring out that seemingly impossible task - defeating the San Diego Padres.
The Giants have dropped all six games against the Padres this season entering Monday’s contest at Petco Park in San Diego, the opener of a short two-game series.
The Padres (22-15) were swept by Los Angeles over the weekend but are still the surprise leaders of the National League. San Diego’s early-season dominance of the Giants has been a major factor in that lofty position.
San Diego swept three games from the Giants at home in April and did it again last week in San Francisco.
The Padres have held the Giants to eight runs. Mat Latos, who is Tuesday's starter, has beaten San Francisco twice without allowing a run in 16 innings.
Yet San Francisco (21-15) is just a half-game behind San Diego after the Padres lost three straight to the Dodgers while the Giants were notching wins over the Astros.
The Giants received quite a boost in the Houston series from left fielder Andres Torres, who is starting because of the wrist injury that has sidelined Mark DeRosa. Torres went 6-for-11 (.545) in the series with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in Sunday’s finale.
The switch-hitting Torres has started seven consecutive games for the Giants and has raised his batting average to .299.
The Padres tallied just four runs while being swept by the Dodgers. San Diego had just seven hits in the final two games.
San Diego badly needs slumping first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to get back in his groove. Gonzalez has just one homer since April 25 and is in an 8-for-52 funk (.154) that has seen his average plummet from .319 to .250.
The Padres are shy on hitting to begin with so their offensive issues get magnified whenever Gonzalez isn’t performing at this established All-Star form.
San Diego left-hander Clayton Richard and San Francisco right-hander Matt Cain will be pitching against each other for third time this season.
Richard (2-2, 3.21 ERA) recorded the victory in San Diego’s 5-2 win over the Giants on May 12. He surrendered two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He wasn’t involved in the decision on April 19 despite giving up just one run and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Cain (2-2, 3.38) suffered the loss against Richard in last Wednesday’s outing when he gave up five runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struggled with his command and walked a season-high six batters.
In Cain’s previous matchup against Richard in April, he wasn’t involved in the decision. He permitted two runs and seven hits in six innings.