Padres at Marlins
The San Diego Padres erupted for 20 runs to capture the final three contests of their four-game series against the Miami Marlins to conclude last month. The Padres (29-35) continued their good fortune into June and bid for their eighth win in 10 outings on Friday when they begin a 10-game road trip with the opener of a three-game series versus the Marlins (22-40).
Franmil Reyes, who went deep in three straight meetings with Miami last month, has homered in back-to-back contests to highlight his current four-game hitting streak. Cory Spangenberg, who scored twice in San Diego's 9-5 win over the Marlins on May 29, has heated up after an 0-for-10 stretch with two homers and his first two triples of the season to go along with four RBIs and four runs scored in his last four outings. Miami's Justin Bour had an RBI double to highlight his three-hit performance in a 4-1 setback to St. Louis on Thursday afternoon. The 30-year-old went 4-for-8 with two doubles and two runs scored in the first two games versus San Diego on May 28-29 before going 0-for-8 with three strikeouts to conclude that series.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS San Diego, FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres LH Eric Lauer (2-3, 6.82 ERA) vs. Marlins LH Caleb Smith (4-6, 4.03)
Lauer matched his shortest outing of the season on May 28 when he was touched for five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings of a 7-2 setback versus Miami. The 23-year-old Ohio native rebounded with a strong effort on Saturday, surrendering a solo homer among five hits over five frames to record his first win since May 6 with an 8-2 rout of Cincinnati. "I think from an overall standpoint, I helped the team in more aspects," said Lauer, who helped his cause with a sacrifice fly and his fifth pickoff of the season. "The RBI and pickoff are kind of bonuses, I think. I still need to get through more innings. Overall, though, it's one of those outings where you look back and I helped the team in multiple ways."
Smith got the better of Lauer on May 28, as the former yielded one run on four hits in seven innings to lower his ERA to a season-best 3.51 at that point. The 26-year-old saw his ERA go up by half a run after being taken deep twice and surrendering five runs on as many hits in four frames of a 6-2 setback at Atlanta on Saturday. "I don't know if I was tipping. But it was almost like they knew every pitch I was throwing," Smith told the Miami Herald.
WALK-OFFS
1. Miami 3B-RF Brian Anderson is 16-for-40 with six multi-hit games in his last 10 outings.
2. San Diego OF Hunter Renfroe has bolted out of the blocks in nine games since returning from the disabled list, going 9-for-25 with a homer, seven RBIs and five runs scored.
3. Marlins SS J.T. Riddle had four hits and two runs in the final three games of last month's series versus the Padres.