Athletics at Padres
The San Diego Padres put together a respectable road trip with five wins in 10 games but come home disappointed after watching the bats go cold in back-to-back losses at Atlanta. The Padres will try to put some runs on the board when they host the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a two-game interleague series on Tuesday.
San Diego had a chance to win all three series on the road before stumbling at Atlanta while totaling one run in back-to-back losses and striking out 17 times in Sunday's 4-1 setback. "If we wanna be great, we've got to eliminate the strikeouts," Padres manager Andy Green told reporters. "That's been one of our nemeses all season long. Guys that have an opportunity to bring in a guy from third base in particular, finding a different type of swing to get the guy in. And it's been preached; it's time to execute it." The Athletics struck out 10 times in 11 innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday but managed to come away with a win on Jonathan Lucroy's walk-off single, which pulled the team to .500 at 36-36. Oakland will try to jump over the break-even mark behind right-hander Paul Blackburn on Tuesday while San Diego sends lefty Eric Lauer to the mound.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Oakland), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Paul Blackburn (1-1, 11.05 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Lauer (3-4, 6.20)
Blackburn cruised to a win in his season debut with six solid innings against Kansas City on June 7, but was not nearly as sharp Wednesday against Houston. The 24-year-old was roughed up for eight runs on eight hits and a pair of walks in 1 1/3 innings without notching a strikeout against the Astros. Blackburn went 3-1 with a 3.22 ERA in 10 starts for Oakland during his 2017 rookie campaign.
Lauer picked up a win at St. Louis on Wednesday while allowing two runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. The rookie from Kent State surrendered three or fewer runs in each of his last three outings but failed to complete six innings in any of those turns. Lauer is making his first start against an American League opponent and is 2-2 with a 6.89 ERA in four starts at home.
WALK-OFFS
1. Athletics 2B Jed Lowrie is 6-for-13 with a pair of doubles in his last three games to raise his batting average to .284.
2. San Diego RF Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Sunday and has been fanned 11 times over the last six contests.
3. Oakland 1B Matt Olson is 1-for-25 with nine strikeouts over the last seven games.