The San Diego Padres continue to fall further behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and are a half-game out of the wild card going into a huge series with the Chicago Cubs.
The San Diego Padres have been playing good baseball over the past couple weeks but let a critical three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers get away from them, dropping the final two games and the set to the National League West leaders.
The Padres were blown out in the middle game of the series and came up short in the finale, losing 4-2 after ace right-hander Michael King faltered. King didn’t make it out of the fifth inning, getting removed after 4.1 innings and allowing four runs on three hits and four walks while striking out five.
The Dodgers opened the scoring with an RBI single from Shohei Ohtani in the third inning, but Padres third baseman Manny Machado clubbed his 15th home run of the season to even the score in the fourth. Machado has been hitting much better during San Diego’s stretch of better ball, but still not where he or the team needs him to be.
Los Angeles scored three in the fifth on a walk and two-run single, ending King’s day. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts got one run back in the sixth with an RBI single, but it wasn’t enough to generate a comeback.
Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan was great over five innings of work, allowed just one run on two hits and two walks while fanning five.
San Diego will continue its huge stretch against great teams with a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, which hold the second NL wild card spot and sit two games ahead of the Padres entering play today.
The Padres are undecided at pitcher as of now, but it’s right-hander Griffin Canning’s turn in the rotation. There are rumblings that right-hander German Marquez could be recalled after he was supposed to start for Triple-A El Paso on Sunday but never pitched, but nothing has been announced.
Canning has struggled tremendously after pitching well in his first start, posting a 1-5 record with a 7.38 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 43 strikeouts to 26 walks through 10 games (eight starts, 42.2 innings).
The Cubs will have lefty Shota Imanaga on the bump and he is 5-6 with a 4.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 88 strikeouts to 23 walks through 16 starts (92 innings). He has allowed 20 home runs this season and the wind will be blowing out at Wrigley Field, so the Padres should be able to ambush the former All-Star.
He last worked against the New York Mets and allowed four runs (three homers) on four hits and one walk while punching out four over 5.1 innings.
First pitch is at 5:05 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.
