San Diego @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 31, 2010 ) San Diego 4, Arizona 7
It's never a bad thing when a team's ace pitcher takes the mound. Especially when that team has been struggling to win games.
The San Diego Padres send Mat Latos to the mound Wednesday for the final game of their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Padres, who have lost six straight, need any kind of positive news they can find. San Diego is struggling in all facets of the game. The starting pitching has been shaky and the offense has completely disappeared, scoring nine runs in their last 47 innings.
San Diego's lead in the National League West is down to four games over San Francisco. Tuesday night's loss to last-place Arizona is another example of how the Padres have been playing. The problems with the starting pitching and offense have made their bullpen, the best in baseball, a moot point because there have been no leads to hold in the last week.
This is where Latos (13-5) comes in. The 22-year-old right-hander has been good all season, but has unhittable lately. That promises to be bad news for the Diamondbacks.
How good has Latos been? Good enough that opposing hitters might want to ask for a doctor's note excusing themselves for the day. Latos has allowed two runs or fewer in 13 straight starts. In that stretch he has given up two runs five times, one run four times and no runs four times.
Latos is 8-1 in this stretch. His only loss came on Aug. 3 when he allowed two runs in six innings at Dodger Stadium. Latos' last "bad" outing came on June 4, when he gave up three runs in five innings against Philadelphia.
Latos' numbers for the season will make any hitter flinch. He has given up 105 hits and struck out 150 in 149 2/3 innings. Latos has only walked 42 and held batters to a .192 average.
Right-hander Barry Enright (5-2) should be a formidable foe for Latos. In fact, Enright is making a habit of taking on an opposing team's ace and not only pitching well but winning.
He has beaten Ubaldo Jimenez and Tim Lincecum in his last two starts. Enright held Colorado to one run and three hits in outpitching Jimenez and was even better in downing the Giants and Lincecum, allowing only six hits in seven shutout innings.
Enright hasn't lost since July 11 against San Diego and is 4-0 in his last eight starts.