The San Diego Padres split with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Mexico City Series over the weekend and come home to play the Chicago Cubs for three games.
The San Diego Padres should have swept its two-game Mexico City Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend, but a bullpen implosion allowed Arizona to pick up a 12-7 win in the finale.
It was all Padres through the first four-and-a-half innings, as the offense tagged Diamondbacks righty Ryne Nelson for six runs on seven hits and two walks through five innings. Third baseman Manny Machado crushed two home runs, a two-run shot that traveled 436 feet and three-run blast that went 395 feet.
Arizona shortstop Jose Fernandez got a run back with a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth but it was answered with a 421-foot shot by San Diego catcher Luis Campusano in the sixth, putting the Padres up 7-1 with 12 outs to go.
The Padres received a strong start from right-hander Michael King, who tossed six innings of two-run ball on just three hits and one walk while striking out eight, but the bullpen combined to allow 10 runs on 12 hits and two walks without a single strikeout in the seventh and eighth innings.
San Diego is now 17-5 in April and returns home for a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs to end the month. The Cubs are one of the hottest teams in baseball despite dropping the final two games of a three-game set to the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, having won 10 straight prior to Saturday.
Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd will toe the rubber against Padres righty Randy Vasquez in the opener.
Boyd was roughed up on Opening Day against the Washington Nationals, allowing six runs on six hits and one walk despite fanning seven through 3.2 innings, but has pitched well in his other two starts.
After striking out 10 Los Angeles Angels over 5.2 innings and allowing one earned run, the Cubs placed Boyd on the injured list with a biceps injury. He returned last week and threw 4.2 innings of two-run ball with five punchouts against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Vasquez has been excellent for San Diego, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.88 ERA (fifth-best) and 1.08 WHIP through five starts (28.2 innings). The promising 27-year-old threw seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts against the Colorado Rockies his last time out and the Padres have won each time Vasquez has pitched this season.
This will be a good test for Vasquez, as the Cubs have been on fire as of late. Chicago averaged 7.2 runs per game during its 10-game winning streak and although it was shutout 6-0 on Sunday, the Cubs managed to send a batter to the plate with a runner on base 20 times (but failed to record a single hit).
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.