Colorado @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2010 ) Colorado 4, San Diego 3
Even the friendly confines of Petco Park couldn’t stop the San Diego Padres’ misery.
Following their latest setback, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, the once-surging Padres suffered their eighth consecutive defeat.
The Padres will try to find whatever has been ailing them when they host the Rockies in the second of a three-game set on Saturday.
Corey Luebke, making his major league debut, allowed a pair of two-run homers to Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki, which was all the offense Colorado would need on Friday night.
Despite suffering another loss, San Diego - which got within a run on Nick Hundley’s two-run blast in the seventh but no closer - received some good news when San Francisco succumbed to defeat as well
The Giants dropped a 4-2 decision to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, leaving them three games behind the first-place Padres in the National League West.
The Padres didn’t get their 10-game home stand started the way they had hoped and are still looking for a way to right the ship.
Drawing the task is Jon Garland (13-9, 3.29 ERA), who will be trying to get back into the win column following a brief hiccup.
The right-hander took a loss in his last outing against Philadelphia after surrendering three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Prior to the setback, he had been on a mini streak, rattling off three straight wins while allowing just two total earned runs in that span.
Garland, who has spent the past two seasons pitching in the NL West, has only faced the Rockies three times in his career. In that time he is 1-1 with 3.66 ERA. In his second start of the season, he allowed four runs in six innings of a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Colorado.
Set to oppose him is Jason Hammel (9-7, 4.32 ERA) as he searches for a second consecutive victory when he takes the ball for the Rockies.
The 28-year-old right-hander had dropped four of five starts before earning a win over the Dodgers with 5 1/3 effective innings on Sunday. He struck out seven batters and walked three for his first triumph since Aug. 6.
Hammel has already faced the Padres three times on the year, enjoying some success against them. He is 2-0 and has gone six-plus innings in each of those outings. For his career, Hammel has made eight appearances - seven starts - versus San Diego, and owns a 4.84 ERA.