Padres at Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres recovered nicely in their second series of the season, although in fairness, neither squad set the bar too high in their opening set. Both teams look to win for the third time in their last four games when Philadelphia plays host to San Diego in a Monday matinee.
The Phillies opened their season by suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of Cincinnati before rallying to win two of three at the New York Mets over the weekend. The Padres, meanwhile, didn't even score a run in their three-game sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week before taking two of three in Colorado to salvage some opening-week dignity. Philadelphia's mini-resurgence has been keyed by starting pitching that has yielded two runs in 11 2/3 innings over the last two games. San Diego has finally enjoyed some success at the plate of late, totaling 32 runs in three games against Colorado.
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, NBC 10 (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Andrew Cashner (0-1, 11.25 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Nola (0-0, 1.29)
Cashner has made three career starts and six relief appearances against Philadelphia, posting a 1.93 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio approaching 4.5-to-1. He allowed five runs over four innings against the Dodgers on Wednesday in his season debut, which began with a four-run first inning before the 29-year-old settled down. Freddy Galvis has faced Cashner more than any other Phillie, although his numbers (1-for-10 with three strikeouts) give the edge to the Padres' hurler.
Nola kicked off his second major-league season in fine fashion on Wednesday, yielding one run over seven innings in an eventual 3-2 loss to Cincinnati. He struck out eight without a walk and hopes to enjoy continued success against San Diego this season. Nola faced the Padres twice in 2015, going 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA and a .170 opponents' batting average, including only one extra-base hit allowed in each of the two starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. San Diego OF Matt Kemp had nine hits (three homers) in his previous three games before going 0-for-4 on Sunday.
2. Philadelphia 2B Cesar Hernandez has four multi-hit games in his five starts this season.
3. OF Cedric Hunter has two hits in 18 at-bats to begin his Phillies career.