Diamondbacks at Padres
Improving the offense – particularly at the three outfield spots – was a key part of the facelift that new general manager A.J. Preller gave the San Diego Padres in the offseason. Former Arizona standout Justin Upton was part of that makeover and has made a smooth transition to his new home in San Diego, which will attempt to collect its fifth win in six tries on Wednesday when the Padres host the Diamondbacks in the rubber match of their three-game series.
The Padres wasted little time rebounding from their series-opening
loss to Arizona, getting a run apiece from each of their new outfielders
– center fielder Wil Myers (batting .270), right fielder Matt Kemp
(.368) and left fielder Upton (.303) – during a three-run first inning
en route to Tuesday’s 5-1 victory. Upton remained one of only three players in the majors to record a hit in all nine of
their team’s games four innings later, belting a solo homer into the
second deck. Arizona was limited to season lows in runs and hits (three)
in Tuesday’s defeat, ending a three-game stretch in which it had
tallied at least 10 hits. The lackluster offensive effort coincided with
the decision to keep red-hot Ender Inciarte, who leads the team with
a.393 batting average, out of the starting lineup.
TV: 9:10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Chase Anderson (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Padres RH Brandon Morrow (0-0, 0.00)
Anderson
settled for a no-decision in Friday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Los
Angeles Dodgers, allowing three runs and five hits over five frames
during his 100-pitch outing. The 27-year-old Texas native struggled in
limited action against several Padres during his rookie season in 2014,
including Jedd Gyorko (3-for-6), Yangervis Solarte (2-for-5) and Kemp
(4-for-7 with a homer and two RBIs). Still, Anderson managed to go 2-1
with a 4.20 ERA in three turns against San Diego last year.
Signed
as a free agent from Toronto in the offseason, Morrow made a sterling
debut with San Diego on Friday, yielding four singles and fanning seven
over seven innings in a no-decision against San Francisco. The
30-year-old former first-round pick is coming off a bit of a lost season
with the Blue Jays after he was limited to 33 1/3 innings because of a
finger injury. Morrow made his only career start versus Arizona in 2010
and Cliff Pennington (2-for-12 with five walks) is the only Diamondback
that has logged more than three at-bats against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kemp and Upton lead San Diego with six RBIs apiece while Myers is tied with four Padres for second place with four.
2. Arizona 1B Paul Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 on Tuesday to extend his on-base streak against the Padres to 17 games.
3. San Diego starting pitchers have tallied a league-best 54 strikeouts.