Padres at Reds
Joey Votto is piling up the home run milestones and seeks a few more when he leads the Cincinnati Reds into the opener of a four-game series with the visiting San Diego Padres on Monday. Votto slugged a three-run shot in Sunday's 13-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the 250th of his career, which places him one behind Ted Kluszewski for fifth place in franchise history.
The five-time All-Star needs one more blast to reach 30 in a season for the first time since his 2010 MVP campaign and enters the set tied with Jay Bruce for the most all-time homers at Great American Ball Park with 135. Unfortunately for Votto, so many of the long balls have gone to waste on his last-place club, which has dropped 17 of 23 since the All-Star break. The Padres had won six of nine and rallied to tie Pittsburgh in the ninth inning Sunday before falling 5-4 in 12 innings. San Diego swept three from Cincinnati at home by a combined score of 19-7 earlier this year and it needs one victory in this set to clinch the season series for the fourth consecutive campaign.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Jhoulys Chacin (11-7, 3.99 ERA) vs. Reds RH Tim Adleman (5-9, 5.42)
Chacin entered Sunday tied for seventh in the National League in wins after blanking Minnesota over seven innings his last time out. The 29-year-old is 7-2 with a 2.30 ERA over his last 10 starts, which includes a win and seven solid frames against the Reds at home June 14. Chacin has a 7.35 ERA on the road this year but he has thrown three straight quality starts away from home.
Adleman has one quality start in his last eight appearances and he finished July at 0-5 with a 7.34 ERA after a rocky outing at Miami on July 29. He allowed a season high-tying six runs in 4 1/3 innings of that start, allowing at least one home run for the 12th straight outing. The Georgetown product has never faced San Diego and is 7-5 in his career at home.
WALK-OFFS
1. Reds All-Star SS Zack Cozart (thigh) was activated from the 10-day disabled list Sunday and went 1-for-5 with a run scored.
2. Padres CF Manuel Margot had a two-run single to force extra innings Sunday and has driven in 10 runs over his last 10 games.
3. San Diego is 16-6 against Cincinnati since the start of the 2014 season.