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Following an epic win on Thursday, our Padres could not overcome a couple of lopsided innings by the Rockies last night as they dropped the first game of the series, 10-2. Today they will take on a pitcher who has struggled this season, but pitched very well against us in his major league debut at the beginning of the season.
Christian Friedrich kept our Padres to just one run on five hits, while striking out seven batters, in seven strong innings in his appearance in San Diego on May 9th. His last eight starts, however, have not gone so well. Most recently, he gave up four runs on nine hits while lasting only 4 1/3 innings against the Nationals. Today, per the terms of the Rockies' four-man rotation, he will be limited to 75 pitches in his start, so he will try to be more effective against our Padres than he was against the Nats.
Pitching for us will be Edinson Volquez, who is coming off a great win at home against Seattle. He threw 115 pitches against the Mariners, shutting them out for 6 2/3 innings, and giving up just four hits while striking out four. Volquez hasn't been entirely dominating on the mound this season, but he has put up nine quality starts in 17 appearances. He leads the majors in walks issued, so he still has a lot to work on in terms of his command, but he has been relatively solid and reliable in a season riddled with pitching issues.
Here's today's lineup via Scanman:
Padres lineup 6/30 vs. Rocks: Denorfia-RF, Forsythe-2B, Headley-3B, Quentin-LF, GRANDAL-C, Alonso-1B, Maybin-CF, Amarista-SS, Volquez-P. GO PADS!
Our hopes of possibly climbing out of last place in the NL West were dashed with last night's loss. But a series win would still be a great accomplishment for our boys. Hopefully we can take better advantage of the moon's Coors Field's atmosphere tonight and put up some runs against Friedrich to force a rubber match tomorrow afternoon.
GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!