The San Diego Padres can get back to .500 in the month of May with a rubber match win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
The San Diego Padres had an amazing April after struggling to get out of the gates in late-March but are under .500 so far in May.
Yes, the sample is incredibly small at just five games, and the Padres ran into a buzzsaw to start the month with a series against the red-hot Chicago White Sox, but the team’s biggest stars haven’t been stepping up as of late and it has translated in the team losing three of those five games.
After defeating the San Francisco Giants in the middle game of its three-game set, the Padres can win the series with a victory in the rubber match on Wednesday.
San Diego outmatched San Francisco 10-5 Tuesday night in an offensive barrage, which was great to see as most of the stars that have been struggling stepped up in a big way, mainly center fielder Jackson Merrill. Merrill went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI out of the leadoff spot to bring his batting average up to .235 and his OPS to .672.
Infielder Sung-Mun Song got his first licks in the big leagues, going 2-for-4 with a go-ahead two-run double in the fourth inning. He should be in the lineup a lot more with second baseman Jake Cronenworth headed to the injured list.
Padres right-hander Walker Buehler outpitched Giants righty Logan Webb enough to earn the win, going 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Webb lasted just four innings and allowed six runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
San Diego needed a gutsy win and it got it with a comeback win over a division rival. It will be up to right-hander Matt Waldron, who will have an opener throw the first inning (righty reliever Bradgley Rodriguez), to outduel San Francisco righty Adrian Houser in the series finale.
Rodriguez has been great for San Diego with a 1.62 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, but Waldron has struggled mightily this season. Waldron is 0-1 with a 9.88 ERA and 1.98 WHIP through three starts (13.2 innings). His last outing was somewhat impressive, in the fact that he held the other red-hot Chicago team (Cubs) to just three runs in five innings.
Houser has had his early season struggles as well, posting an 0-3 record with a 7.12 ERA and 1.71 WHIP through six starts (30.1 innings). It has been far from smooth sailing for Houser, who has completed six innings just once and has one appearance in which he allowed less than three earned runs.
He pitched 4.2 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two his last time out.
First pitch is at 12:45 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.