St. Louis @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 23, 2009 ) St. Louis 5, San Diego 2
This can either be great timing for the San Diego Padres or a time to be very scared.
The reason? Albert Pujols is in a deep slump.
The timing of the St. Louis Cardinals opening a three-game series against the NL West-leading Padres on Tuesday brings Pujols to town at a time when he’s hit just one home run in the month of May and has no RBIs over the last nine games.
The three-time National League Most Valuable Player has just one extra-base hit since May 14 and just went 0-for-10 over the weekend during an interleague series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Oh yeah, that reason to be scared? Pujols is due to break out of his slump and he perennially pounds the ball against the Padres.
Pujols has 17 homers and 55 RBIs in 208 career at-bats against San Diego. His batting average is .356, on-base percentage is .460 and slugging percentage is .683.
Pujols has two hits in eight career at-bats against Padres starting pitcher Jon Garland - and both hits are homers.
Yes, it’s safe to say the Padres are hoping for the continuation of that May slump – Pujols is hitting just .267 with 10 RBIs this month – until the Cardinals leave town.
On the season, Pujols is batting .303 with eight homers and 29 RBIs.
Meanwhile, San Diego’s All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is red hot and was named National League Player of the Week on Monday.
Gonzalez batted .444 with nine RBIs over the past week, topped by a career-best six-RBIs performance in a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also had a four-hit game against the Seattle Mariners.
Gonzalez, who went through a slump of his own during the first two weeks of May, is batting .284 and leads the Padres in homers (nine) and RBIs (27).
Gonzalez has just five career at-bats (with two hits) against Adam Wainwright, who starts Tuesday for St. Louis, which is tied for first place in the NL Central with the Cincinnati Reds.
Wainwright (6-2) has gone at least six innings in all nine of his starts and has a 2.49 ERA.
Wainwright allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings while beating the Florida Marlins in his last start.
San Diego’s Garland has won five consecutive decisions since losing his first two starts of the season. He has given the Padres a veteran presence in a rotation that includes three young starters in budding star Mat Latos and lefties Clayton Richard and Wade LeBlanc.
Garland allowed two earned runs or fewer in six straight outings (including three shutouts) before giving up four runs and nine hits in five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He got the victory in that shaky start that saw his ERA rise to 2.38.
Padres second baseman David Eckstein has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the past three weeks, raising his average from .250 to its current .310. Eckstein went 8-for-15 over the weekend against Seattle and has six multi-hit performances over the last seven games, going 14-for-33 (.424) during that span.