Rangers at Padres
Jered Weaver is winless this season and looks to rebound from perhaps the worst start of his career when the San Diego Padres conclude the first half of their home-and-home interleague series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday afternoon. Weaver was pounded for a career-worst 10 runs - five earned - and 10 hits over four innings during an 11-3 loss to Colorado on Saturday.
Weaver is struggling to regain the prowess he displayed earlier in his career for the Los Angeles Angels and has served up a National League-high 12 homers in just 32 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old will be trying to help the Padres finish off the two-game home sweep after Ryan Schimpf, Austin Hedges and Cory Spangenberg all hit solo homers in Monday's 5-1 victory to snap a four-game skid, while the defeat dropped Texas to 2-6 on its nine-game road trip. Rangers starter A.J. Griffin grew up in the San Diego area and was a standout at the University of San Diego - the same school that produced reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant -- and is pitching at Petco Park for the first time in his career. "I don't think I've played a baseball game in San Diego since 2010 with USD," Griffin told reporters. "It's just good to be in San Diego. It'll be a nice little midday game, and I'll try to get us going."
TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Southwest (Texas), FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH A.J. Griffin (3-0, 3.54 ERA) vs. Padres RH Jered Weaver (0-3, 5.51)
Griffin has won three consecutive starts, allowing just four earned runs over 17 innings during the stretch. The 29-year-old missed more than two weeks with an ankle injury before returning to defeat Houston on Thursday. Griffin is just 7-8 with a 4.29 ERA in 29 career day starts compared to a 24-7 mark and 3.84 ERA in 45 evening outings.
Weaver typically fared well against the Rangers during his 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels as he went 18-8 with a 3.44 ERA in 40 career starts. His issue of keeping the ball in the park date back to last season as he has served up 49 homers over his last 37 starts. Weaver has been hit hard by Shin-Soo Choo (17-for-42, one homer) but has shut down Carlos Gomez (3-for-21) and Rougned Odor (3-for-18).
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers RHP Matt Bush was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2004 draft by the Padres, over Weaver among others, and was inside Petco Park for the first time as a player on Monday. He spent 51 months in prison after running over a motorcyclist while drunk before Texas signed him after his release in the fall of 2015.
2. San Diego acquired OF Matt Szczur from the Chicago Cubs for RHP Justin Hancock.
3. Odor is just 5-for-33 with two homers in eight games this month.