The San Diego Padres are back in the postseason! They’ll likely go back and forth as the season continues before they face off against the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final Wild Card spot. The Friars swept the Washington Nationals after Jackson Merrill’s two homer day. He finished a double shy of the cycle, with a single, a triple and two home runs. That production led the Padres to a 9-2 win in the series finale.
San Diego will now embark on a crucial road trip, facing the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. Both are divisional opponents who are very beatable for the Friars. Not only that, but both teams have been eliminated from the playoffs so they aren’t playing for as much. The Padres should be able to clean up against the two clubs, with the Friars beating San Francisco, 6-4, in the season series.
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Taking the mound
Anthony Molina (SF) v. Robbie Ray (SD)
In a short stint with the Giants, Molina has managed to immensely impress. In three appearances (two starts), Molina owns a 1.88 ERA through 14 1/3 innings pitched. Prior to that, Molina had been on the Atlanta Braves, where he pitched just five innings in relief before he was traded for starting pitcher Tyler Mahle.
Molina doesn’t have an abundance of experience at the big-league level. He’s spent two seasons with the Rockies, posting an ERA over 6.00 in both years. Molina worked primarily out of the bullpen but has worked as a starter for San Francisco. It’s worked to mostly solid results, with Molina surrendering three runs in his last three starts.
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This will be Ray’s homecoming since being traded by the Giants at the Trade Deadline. The veteran lefty has pitched incredibly well this season but has struggled with the Friars. He’s coming off of a miserable start in which Ray gave up five runs in just 2 1/3 innings versus the New York Yankees.
This is the perfect team for Ray to face in order to turn his Padres tenure around. Not only does Ray know these hitters well, having shared a clubhouse with them, but they have struggled immensely to produce runs this season. That said, San Francisco is on a three-game win streak after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.
Batter up!
Apart from Merrill’s hot day at the plate, the San Diego lineup still looked fantastic on Wednesday afternoon. The offense (without Merrill) went a combined 12-for-33. Three of the Padres had three-hit games (Ty France, Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr.) while five had multi-hit games.
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After Cronenworth’s day off on Wednesday, he’ll likely be back in the lineup for the series opener versus San Francisco. He’s spent most of the second half batting behind Tatis. That has worked pretty well for the Padres, but Craig Stammen could tinker a little bit after Merrill’s recent hot streak.
Relief corps
After Walker Buehler was pulled from the game early (perhaps accidentally), the Padres’ bullpen locked it down. With the bases loaded in the third inning, Kyle Hart stymied the Nats. Hart then pitched 1 2/3 more innings before David Morgan, Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta and Griffin Canning covered the final 4 1/3 innings.
With the off day on Thursday, San Diego will have all of its relievers available for the series opener. However, those who didn’t pitch in the series finale on Wednesday will be preferred over the rest. Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez and Randy Vásquez will be available out of the ‘pen for San Diego. Vásquez seems likely to pitch only if Ray struggles to work deep into the game.
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