The Padres walk into tonight’s matchup with real momentum, but the Pirates aren’t exactly the kind of opponent you expect to roll over. San Diego just completed a sweep of the Minnesota Twins, and now it gets a Pittsburgh club trying to shake off a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There’s also a clear gap in the standings. Pittsburgh is 8.5 games behind San Diego with three teams to pass, while the Padres hold a two-game edge over the Arizona Diamondbacks and remain two games back in the chase for the second spot behind the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies.
San Diego will hand the ball to Robbie Ray, who is still settling in after coming over from the San Francisco Giants at the deadline. The left-hander has had one obvious issue with his new team: walks.
He’s issued 11 of them in 15 innings as a Padre, which puts him among the league leaders in that category. Even so, he showed what he can do last week on the road against the New York Mets, throwing six innings of one-run ball in a 5-2 San Diego win.
Pittsburgh counters with Braxton Ashcraft, and that makes this a tougher test than the standings might suggest. Ashcraft has given up only two runs in his last 17 innings over his last two starts, while working deep into games with eight- and nine-inning outings. The Pirates have won four of his last five starts, though he did miss the Dodgers series.
That series was rough for Pittsburgh offensively, with the Pirates scoring just seven runs over three games against Los Angeles. San Diego hasn’t been lighting up the board early, but the Padres have made their damage count in bunches. And with Fernando Tatis Jr. continuing to put on a show that blends hitting, speed, defense and power, the Padres always have a chance to turn a game fast.
Jackson Merrill is another name to keep an eye on for San Diego. He’s been swinging it well, even if the numbers and spotlight haven’t matched the kind of eye-popping performances Tatis has been delivering.
The Padres would love to get this series started the right way, especially with Paul Skenes waiting on deck tomorrow night.
In Other News...
Padres Suddenly Have A Wild Card Edge Diamondbacks Fans Fear
Ketel Martes absence has become one more twist in a late-season race where every roster move carries extra weight. The Diamondbacks first put the veteran on the restricted list after he did not report on time for a game against the Red Sox, then shifted him to the 10-day injured list after an MRI showed knee inflammation, a sequence that only added to the uncertainty around an Arizona club trying to steady itself.
For San Diego, the timing matters. The Padres have worked their way out of a losing streak and back up the standings by leaning on accountability and steady leadership inside the room, the kind of internal stability that can separate contenders when the margin gets tight. Arizonas latest issue leaves the door open a little wider, and with the two clubs chasing the same late-season goals, the pressure now feels very different on both sides of the desert. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Made Another Telling Pitching Decision In Triple A
The Padres have continued to sift through their Triple-A pitching inventory, and the latest move sends right-hander Andrew Thurman back into the market. San Diego released Thurman from El Paso after a rough stretch with the Chihuahuas, where he struggled to find traction in five appearances during his first season in the organization.
Thurman had signed a minor league deal with the Padres in January, hoping to work his way toward another shot at the majors. Now 34 and a free agent, hell be looking for a new landing spot, while the Padres keep adjusting their depth chart in El Paso and searching for arms that can better hold down innings. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Made A Curious Roster Call Before The Pirates Series
The Padres made a notable roster tweak ahead of their series with the Pirates, selecting the contract of outfielder Dustin Harris and giving him his first chance at the major league level with San Diego. Harris arrived on a minor league deal in July, and the move places him on both the 40-man and active rosters as the club continues to sort through its depth.
To clear space, the Padres optioned infielder Sung-Mun Song to Triple-A and transferred right-hander Lucas Giolito to the 60-day injured list on the 40-man side. It is the kind of transaction that can fly under the radar in the moment, but it also hints at how the Padres are managing both their immediate bench mix and the longer injury-related picture as they head into the series. [Read more 🡒]