San Diego @ San Francisco preview
AT&T Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 17, 2016 ) San Francisco 3, San Diego 5
The San Francisco Giants hope their second-half struggles are subsiding just in time to make a postseason run. The Giants will try to extend their three-game winning streak and solidify their playoff prospects when they begin a three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres on Monday.
The Giants are clinging to the top wild-card spot and remain just three games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. San Francisco is a major league-worst 20-32 since the All-Star break but completed a three-game sweep in Arizona on Sunday to finish 5-5 on its 10-game road trip. Jeff Samardzija, who is 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA in four meetings with San Diego this season, gets the ball for the Giants in the opener while Paul Clemens is expected to make his regular start for the Padres after battling the flu bug this past week. The Giants lead the season series 9-3 and have won all six meetings at AT&T Park.
TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Paul Clemens (2-5, 5.44 ERA) vs. Giants RH Jeff Samardzija (11-9, 4.00)
Clemens has lost his last three starts, allowing 12 runs - 10 earned - in 12 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old hasn’t made it through five frames in either of his last two outings and was tagged for five runs in four-plus innings of a loss to Boston on Tuesday. Clemens never has faced the Giants.
Samardzija has recorded quality starts in four of his last five outings but has notched only one win over that stretch. The 31-year-old pitched well enough to win last time out, holding Colorado to two runs and four hits over seven innings in a no-decision. Samardzija is 6-1 with a 3.29 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) against the Padres.
WALK-OFFS
1. San Diego OF Jon Jay is 11-for-27 with a homer versus Samardzija.
2. Padres 1B Yangervis Solarte is 10-for-24 during his six-game hitting streak, with four multi-hit efforts in that span.
3. The Giants are 0-55 when trailing after eight innings.
PREDICTION: Giants 7, Padres 5