The San Diego Padres have held a playoff spot for much of the season but are now a game behind the Washington Nationals for the final NL wild card spot.
The San Diego Padres fell to the St. Louis Cardinals again on Tuesday night after mustering just two runs on four hits, dropping the series and in the standings.
With the 3-2 loss, the Padres are no longer occupying a playoff spot. The offense is in shambles, and both the eye test and statistics back that up. San Diego has the lowest team batting average (.216), on-base percentage (.289), slugging percentage (.358) and OPS (.648) while having the fewest hits (505) and runs batted in (267).
There is immense talent up and down the lineup, but even its biggest stars are doing nothing to help change the offense’s fortunes. Second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr., who recorded one of the four hits in the series-clinching loss, has been on fire over his last 30 games but has just two home runs this season.
Third baseman Manny Machado leads the team with 12 homers and 35 RBI but is batting a measly .175 with a .609 OPS in 70 games. Center fielder Jackson Merrill, who did come through with an RBI double to bring San Diego within one in the sixth inning, is batting .205 with a .614 OPS.
That’s simply not good enough. The leaders of this team need to step up soon or the Padres will be in serious trouble, and its playoff hopes will be in jeopardy. Pitching has been fine for the most part despite having a thin starting rotation, but even when San Diego gets good pitching contributions, it seems like the offense can’t come through.
The Cardinals have scored three runs in both games of the series and have won both games. For how much the Padres pay its star players, that’s embarrassing to say the least and the players know that.
San Diego desperately needs to salvage the series with a win in the finale, and it will be utilizing an opener for struggling right-hander Griffin Canning while St. Louis will send righty Kyle Leahy to the bump.
Hard-throwing reliever Bradgley Rodriguez gets the ball to start for the Padres and he has been effective. The 22-year-old is 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 31 strikeouts to 12 walks through 30 games (two starts, 33.1 innings).
Canning was great in his first start coming off a ruptured left Achilles, carving up the feisty Chicago White Sox, but has struggled for the most part otherwise. He is 0-5 with a 7.17 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 39 strikeouts to 22 walks through eight starts (37.2 innings). He and Rodriguez will battle the following Cardinals lineup:
1. JJ Wetherholt (2B)
2. Ivan Herrera (DH)
3. Alec Burleson (1B)
4. Jordan Walker (RF)
5. Lars Nootbar (LF)
6. Masyn Winn (SS)
7. Jimmy Crooks (C)
8. Blaze Jordan (3B)
9. Nathan Church (CF)
Leahy is 5-3 with a 4.64 ERA, 1.59 ERA and 52 strikeouts to 25 walks through 13 starts (64 innings). He last worked against the Minnesota Twins and allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk while fanning five across five innings in a no-decision. Leahy will take on the following Padres lineup:
1. Tatis (RF)
2. Samad Taylor (LF)
3. Merrill (CF)
4. Machado (3B)
5. Gavin Sheets (DH)
6. Xander Bogaerts (SS)
7. France (1B)
8. Will Wagner (2B)
9. Rodolfo Duran (C)
First pitch is at 11:15 a.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.
