Padres at Marlins
The San Diego Padres are fighting to get out of the basement in the National League West and are riding a wave of momentum with wins in eight of the last 11 games. The Padres will try to improve their standing at the expense of another last-place team when they visit the Miami Marlins in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.
San Diego dropped the series opener 4-0 but got the bats going just enough on Saturday to come out with a 5-4 win as Travis Jankowski drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth. The Padres received some surprising pop in the win from shortstop Freddy Galvis, who came into the contest 6-for-34 in his previous 10 games but doubled and homered in the win. The Marlins sit at the bottom of the NL East but won three of four before falling on Saturday and are getting very familiar with the NL West with series against San Francisco (twice), Colorado and Arizona before the end of the month. San Diego will send veteran left-hander Clayton Richard to the mound on Sunday opposite Miami right-hander Jose Urena.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FS San Diego, FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres LH Clayton Richard (4-6, 4.67 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Jose Urena (1-7, 4.60)
Richard picked up a win over Atlanta on Monday while allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks in seven innings. The Michigan product has worked at least six innings in each of his last six starts and at least seven frames in five of those last six. Richard lasted seven innings at home against Miami on May 30 but was held out of the decision while surrendering two runs and four hits.
Urena picked up his first win of the season at St. Louis on Tuesday despite serving up four runs on 10 hits and a walk in five innings. The Dominican Republic native, who went 14-7 last season, is averaging just 2.85 runs of support per start. Urena went up against Richard at San Diego on May 30 and yielded just one run and three hits over six innings without factoring in the decision.
WALK-OFFS
1. Marlins LF Derek Dietrich recorded multiple hits in five of the last eight games.
2. San Diego LHP Brad Hand tossed a scoreless inning on Saturday to lower his ERA to 1.95.
3. Miami 3B Brian Anderson is 14-for-28 during a seven-game hitting streak.