San Diego @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( May 18, 2010 ) San Francisco 7, San Diego 6
Jonathan Sanchez is on the mound and in the spotlight Friday night when the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres begin a key three-game series in San Francisco.
Sanchez predicted a San Francisco sweep this weekend after getting torched by the Atlanta Braves last Sunday. Sanchez said the Giants will win all three games and won’t look back once they move past the Padres into first place in the National League West.
Not exactly the smartest thing to say with the Padres looming on the horizon, and numerous San Francisco players were reportedly upset with Sanchez popping off.
The words seemed doubly odd considering the Padres have dominated the Giants this season by winning seven of the eight meetings. San Diego leads the Giants by 2 1/2games in the NL West.
Sanchez has pitched well against San Diego but doesn’t have any wins to show for it. He’s 0-2 with a 2.57 earned-run average in three 2010 starts against the Padres.
Sanchez’s biggest moment in the major leagues came last summer when he no-hit the Padres at AT&T Park. He has an 8-7 record and 3.55 ERA this season.
Overall, Sanchez is 2-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 16 career appearances (nine starts) against San Diego.
The Padres, who enter the series with a four-game winning streak, send left-hander Clayton Richard to the mound.
Richard has excelled against San Francisco, going 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts this season.
However, Richard (9-5) has been shaky of late, allowing four runs or more in six of his last seven starts. His ERA has risen from 2.74 to 3.83 during that span.
San Francisco’s Juan Uribe (.556 in nine career at-bats) and Aubrey Huff (.417 in 12 at-bats) enjoy hitting against Richard.
Giants outfielder Pat Burrell enters the series on a roll, having hit .444 (16-for-36) with four homers and 12 RBIs in August. Burrell had two homers and five RBIs on Thursday in the Giants’ victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Adrian Gonzalez and recent acquisition Ryan Ludwick are swinging the bats well for San Diego.
Gonzalez, a National League MVP candidate, has gone 11-for-19 (.579) over the past five games with multiple hits in four of the contests. Ludwick hit three homers during a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates – two on Tuesday and one on Thursday.
San Diego shut out Pittsburgh in Thursday’s game for its 14th shutout, second in baseball behind the New York Mets (17).
The Padres’ early-season dominance of the Giants occurred before San Francisco promoted rookie sensation Buster Posey.
Posey batted .417 with seven homers and 24 RBIs during July but is hitting just .231 with no homers thus far in August. He’s batting .335 overall.