Royals at Padres
The San Diego Padres halted a five-game skid in the series opener and strive to notch another victory when they host the Kansas City Royals on Saturday for the middle contest of their three-game set. San Diego was outscored 45-11 during its slide but racked up 14 hits while recording a 6-3 victory in Friday's opener.
Matt Szczur belted a pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning to snap a tie and Franchy Cordero drilled a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth to lead the Padres' charge. Wil Myers struck out three times during a 1-for-4 outing and has recorded just one homer and two RBIs over his last 13 games for San Diego. Kansas City is just 9-18 on the road after dropping the opener of its nine-game West Coast road trip. Salvador Perez (thumb) returned to the Royals' lineup after a one-game absence and went 2-for-4 with a two-run blast - his 94th as a catcher to break Mike Macfarlane's franchise record.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FS1
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Ian Kennedy (0-6, 5.33 ERA) vs. Padres RH Miguel Diaz (1-1, 7.50)
The struggling Kennedy is undoubtedly happy to pitch again in Petco Park as he is 20-13 with a 3.68 ERA in 45 career starts at the venue, where he spent 2 1/2 seasons with the Padres before signing with the Royals after the 2015 season. He also enjoyed success against San Diego while with Arizona, going 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 13 turns. Kennedy has worked five innings or fewer in each of his last five starts and is 0-4 with a 10.24 ERA during that stretch.
Diaz is making his first career start after 21 relief appearances. The 22-year-old was rocked often earlier in the season but has settled down by not allowing an earned run in five of his last seven outings. "It's been a big turn," Diaz told reporters. "I went through a streak there where things weren't going very well. They were scoring multiple runs off me, but I left all the negatives and took all the positives. It's been a good learning experience."
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres C Austin Hedges is 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts over his last five games.
2. Kansas City 2B Whit Merrifield was hitless in four at-bats on Friday and is 3-for-23 since his career-best 19-game hitting streak ended.
3. San Diego optioned struggling 3B Ryan Schimpf (14 homers with .158 average) to Triple-A El Paso and recalled RHP Jose Valdez from the same club.