Series Preview: Padres at Pirates

The Pirates (52-56) are coming off four straight 1-2 series losses, three of which have come against teams in the bottom four of the National League, and we’re just all kinds of happy around this place.

I’m not sure what more one would really want to know about the Padres that we didn’t know last week. They’ve only played twice since facing the Pirates last weekend, splitting a pair with the Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday. They’re still not any good.

Season Series: 2-1 Padres

At San Diego

July 28: Padres 3, Pirates 2

July 29: Padres 4, Pirates 2

July 30: Pirates 7, Padres 1

Schedule

Friday, 7:05 p.m. - Travis Wood (2-3, 6.42 ERA) vs. Ivan Nova (10-8, 3.75), TV: AT&T SportsNet

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. - Dinelson Lamet (5-4, 5.62) vs. Gerrit Cole (9-7, 3.97), TV: AT&T SportsNet

Sunday, 1:35 p.m. - Clayton Richard (5-12, 5.40) vs. Jameson Taillon (6-5, 4.74), TV: AT&T SportsNet

Padres

48-59 (40-67 Pythag, 3.79 RS/G, 5.03 RA/G)

Offense

Yangervis Solarte (.258/.340/.409) returned from an injury last weekend. During that series they also activated defensive-minded catcher Austin Hedges and demoted the powerful but struggling Jabari Blash. Jose Pirela went 5-for-12 with a triple in three games against the Pirates last weekend. Manuel Margot went 4-for-12 with a home run and a double. Cory Spangenberg played in two of the games, going 4-for-6 with a double.

Pitching

San Diego sends the same three starters at the Pirates this weekend. Travis Wood and Dinelson Lamet kept the Bucs pretty well in check, while Clayton Richard wasn’t quite so successful. Making his first start with the Padres after a trade from Kansas City, Wood struck out seven and walked one in six innings, adding an RBI single of his own to the cause. Lamet also struck out seven, with two walks. Richard allowed four runs on Sunday before the bullpen gave up three more to break that game open. Ace reliever Brad Hand (11.78 K/9, 2.29 BB/9) did not get traded before Monday’s deadline, which came as a surprise to some. The losses of Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter (in the trade with the Royals) leaves the bullpen more thin overall.

Outlook

Just have some fun, alright?