San Diego @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Oct 1, 2010 ) San Diego 6, San Francisco 4
Heading into the final weekend of the season, things looked extremely gloomy for the San Diego Padres. After Friday's performance, the outlook got slightly brighter.
The Padres continue their quest for a playoff berth on Saturday when they take on the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants in the middle contest of their three-game series at AT&T Park.
Ahead of San Francisco by 6 1/2 games on Aug. 25, San Diego entered Friday clinging to life thanks to a 12-22 slide that left it three games behind the Giants with three to play. The Padres also began the day trailing the Atlanta Braves by two games for the National League wild card.
With its back firmly against the wall, San Diego teed off on San Francisco's Matt Cain, tagging the right-hander for six runs in four-plus innings and ruining his 26th birthday. Ryan Ludwick, Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Stairs homered to help hand Cain his first loss in eight starts while Clayton Richard tossed 5 1/3 effective innings to improve to 4-1 against the Giants this season, including a 3-0 mark at AT&T Park.
In fact, playing at home against San Diego has been anything but an advantage for San Francisco, which fell to 1-6 here vs. the Padres in 2010. Overall, San Diego has an 11-5 advantage in the season series.
The Giants did not go quietly, scoring one run in the fifth and three in the sixth to close within 6-4. Pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand highlighted the sixth-inning rally with a two-run homer, which ended the night for Richard.
Friday's offensive outburst was the Padres' largest since Sept. 21, when they posted a 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Diego scored a total of five runs in its four-game series with the Chicago Cubs that concluded Thursday.
The series-opening victory, along with the Braves' loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, gave the Padres reason to believe they can make their way into the postseason. Should they complete a three-game sweep of the Giants, they at worst would host a one-game playoff against San Francisco for the division title on Monday and could even clinch a postseason berth should Atlanta lose at least once more to the Phillies.
Tim Stauffer gets the chance to keep the dream alive on Saturday as he makes his sixth consecutive start and seventh overall this year.
In his last five outings, Stauffer has gone 2-2 with a 2.25 ERA. He allowed just one run and five hits in seven innings against Chicago on Monday but still came out on the losing end in a 1-0 setback.
Stauffer owns a 3-2 record and 2.81 ERA in six career games vs. the Giants, including two relief appearances. The right-hander was brilliant in a start against San Francisco on Sept. 11, scattering three hits over six innings en route to a 1-0 triumph.
The 28-year-old is 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in three starts on the road this season.
The only member of the Giants' starting rotation with playoff experience, Barry Zito can get them their first division title since 2003 with a strong performance. In seven career postseason starts, all with Oakland, the left-hander is 4-3 with a 3.25 ERA.
After starting the season strong, Zito has floundered down the stretch, going 1-9 with a 5.03 ERA in his last 14 games - including one appearance out of the bullpen. On Saturday, he surrendered four runs in 4 1/3 innings at Colorado but settled for a no-decision in a 10-9 loss.
Zito is 3-7 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 career starts and one relief outing against San Diego. He lost his only start vs. the Padres this year, yielding three runs and six hits in five innings while issuing a season-high seven walks in a 3-2 setback.
The 32-year-old Zito has performed well at home this season, going 7-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 17 outings - including one in relief.