The San Diego Padres desperately needed to get back in the win column. Yes, they occupy the last Wild Card spot. Yes, they’re on a hot streak as one of the best second-half teams in baseball. And yet, it could all come to an end so quickly. The Friars struggled this week in a series loss to the New York Mets. They needed a win like the one they got Friday night.
Ty France got on the board quickly with a towering two-run shot in the first inning. Starter Randy Vásquez wouldn’t need that lead until the fourth inning. He pitched a perfect three frames before running into trouble in the fourth. Vásquez gave up two runs to tie the game before San Diego topped the Minnesota Twins with a four-run fifth inning. That would be enough as Vásquez pitched seven fantastic innings. The righty was in vintage form Friday night. His resurgence would be a massive development for San Diego.
This is another winnable series for the Friars. If they can finish the Twins off tonight and go for the sweep, it would be a huge sigh of relief for the Padres as well as the Friar Faithful. The offense will need to look like it did last night in order to do so, but that order isn’t nearly as tall as it used to be.
Taking the moundDean Kremer (MIN) v. Casey Mize (SD)Kremer is a recent acquisition for the Twins. Minnesota recently traded for the right-hander’s services at the Deadline. Since joining the Twins, Kremer has looked decent. In his first two outings, he gave up just two runs across 12 innings pitched. But, in his most recent appearance, Kremer surrendered four runs over just 5 1/3 innings.
That may bode well for the Friars, as many in the lineup have faced him before. Though sparingly, most of the Padres have seen Kremer’s stuff well in the past. It’s unlikely that will change tonight, and it should give San Diego an edge against Minnesota.
It’s the battle of the Deadline deals with Mize on the other side of the bump. Since coming to San Diego, Mize has looked good in the brown and gold. After having just about the worst debut game ever (8 ER, 3.1 IP), the right-hander has since pitched incredibly for the Friars (2 ER, 12.0 IP). There’s no suggestion that won’t continue against Minnesota tonight.
The Twins have faced Mize before. The righty spent all of his career in the AL Central with the Detroit Tigers before coming to San Diego. That gives veteran players like Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers an edge against the righty. Buxton owns a .348 batting average and 1.087 OPS against Mize (23 at-bats).
Batter up!The offense was pristine Friday night, with Fernando Tatis Jr. going 3-for-4. As a matter of fact, the top four batters in the order (Tatis, Luis Rengifo, Manny Machado and France) went a combined 8-for-13 with two walks. The rest of the lineup went 1-for-16 with two walks.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Luis Rengifo, LF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Luis Campusano, C
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Merrill has looked worse for wear lately, batting .080 across his last seven games with a blistering 13 strikeouts in 25 at-bats. The center fielder has just started to turn things around post All-Star break. Hopefully he can rediscover the groove he was in sooner rather than later.
Relief corpsBetween Michael King’s gem in New York, the off day on Thursday and Vásquez twirling seven innings, the bullpen is well-rested in San Diego. Bradgley Rodriguez and Mason Miller covered the final two innings of the series opener, pitching two perfect frames. Miller struck out all three batters he faced.
That leaves Griffin Canning, Jeremiah Estrada, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon and Wandy Peralta available out of the ‘pen for the Friars. Manager Craig Stammen has plenty of options to turn to once Mize exits the game, though Canning or Hart may be out first if Mize hits trouble early.
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