How long is too late?
that’s the question san diego padres as soon as they returned home from a 10-game road trip to host its pittsburgh pirates In the opening match of the three-match series on Monday
the clock is ticking in the opposite direction padresConsidered by many to be a postseason shoo-in after bolstering an already impressive roster with players such as Xander Bogarts, Michael Wacha, Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter.
But planning has taken very little time. Most recently, having a chance to beat the weak Detroit Tigers on Sunday, San Diego went 3-1 and four games under .500 with 62 games remaining.
Monday’s contest also marks the start of a six-game homestand. but following it Pirates The city would house the American League West-leading Texas Rangers, and padres Then went on the road again in eight of 12 games.
padres‘Only four home games during that period will not be easy either. National League West leading Los Angeles Dodgers come to town
series win against Pirates can definitely help padres Set the tone for their homestand and beyond. Pittsburgh has gone just 2-7 since the All-Star break, but beat San Diego in a three-game set in Pittsburgh in late June.
“We played a solid all-round series against padres, Pirates manager Derek Shelton said after his team beat San Diego 21-9 from June 27-29. “We got good pitching, especially out of the bullpen, timely hitting, and we played good baseball against a dangerous team.
When padresSan Diego manager Bob Melvin believes his team beats itself even when its opponents are playing good baseball.
“I think no matter who we play, we should be confident of winning the series and/or moving on here,” Melvin said. “I don’t think the opponent matters.
“But at this point, every series is going to be a challenge for us. … At times, we’ve played better against teams like Tampa than teams with worse records. I don’t think it really matters who we play. It’s more about us.”
coping with guilt is often difficult padres, who hasn’t scored more than three runs in 44 percent of his games this season. In those games, San Diego is 6-38.
Right-hander Yu Darvish (7-6, 4.36 ERA) will attempt to lead padres Will look to shake off those negative vibes when he makes his 18th start of the season on Monday
In his most recent outing, Darvish allowed four hits over six scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday and earned back-to-back wins for the first time since early June.
Darvish is 4-2 with a 2.63 ERA in nine career starts against Pirates
Pittsburgh will send fellow right-hander Quinn Priest (0-1, 11.81) to the mound in the series opener.
Priester will be making his second major league start, and the first didn’t go so well. He gave up seven runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings on July 17 against the visiting Cleveland Guardians. Priester drove in two runs and took the loss.
–Field Level Media