Washington @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( May 29, 2010 ) Washington 2, San Diego 4
The San Diego Padres don’t have an everyday starting catcher. Yet two part-timers are performing admirably and have been a big part of the team’s early-season success.
Nick Hundley had a hand in all four San Diego runs in Saturday’s victory over the Washington Nationals, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be in the lineup for today’s finale of the three-game series.
Yeah, a three-run homer and a triple doesn’t assure a Padres catcher of a second consecutive start.
Just ask veteran Yorvit Torrealba, who had three hits on Friday to tie his career high, but watched Hundley play the hero’s role the following night.
Torrealba is a bit better defensively but both players have exceptional relationships with the San Diego starting pitchers. And both catchers are swinging the bat well, which makes for interesting decisions on whose name gets written on the lineup card.
Of course, perhaps the wrong catcher gets written down on some nights – the Padres accidentally turned in a lineup card on Friday night with Adam Russell listed as the starting pitcher instead of Clayton Richard. Russell had been sent to the minors earlier in the day.
But that snafu aside, both catchers are contributing nicely. Torrealba is hitting .292 with 13 RBIs in just 89 at-bats and Hundley is batting .264 with 15 RBIs in 91 at-bats.
Their combined 28 RBIs match the team-leading total of All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.
No matter who catches today, Jon Garland will be the pitcher as the Padres look to beat Washington for the second straight day.
Garland (6-2) has won six consecutive decisions since starting the season with back-to-back losses. He has a splendid 2.10 ERA and has pitched seven shutout innings in three of his last five starts.
He blanked St. Louis for seven innings in his most recent start, a 1-0 victory. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Garland is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four career starts against the Nationals.
Livan Hernandez will oppose Garland and he’s gone four straight starts without winning despite a season ERA of 2.08.
Hernandez (4-3) gave up a season-high four runs in five innings against San Francisco in his last start. He has allowed nine earned runs in his last three starts after giving up just five over his first six outings.
Hernandez has a 12-7 career mark against San Diego, posting a 4.52 ERA in 26 starts.
Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman went 1-for-4 in Saturday’s game to fall out of the National League lead in hitting. Guzman is batting .323 and is now third behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (.325) and Atlanta’s Martin Prado (.324).