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With the series now even at a game apiece, our Padres will try to get back in the win column tonight after their six-game win streak came to an end at the hands of Bronson Arroyo last night. Clayton Richard will try to continue a stretch of some fantastic pitching. He is 4-1 in his last five games and he's coming off one of his best starts of the year. He lasted 8.2 innings, allowing only 2 earned runs on eight hits and one walk on his way to victory. He pitched even better in the start prior to that, despite being tagged with his only loss in his last five outings. In that start, he gave up just one run on two hits and no walks in seven innings against Lucas Harrell and the Astros. Hopefully he can keep the strong pitching up and lead us to our second win of the series tonight.
The Reds will send Homer Bailey to the mound to try to keep our Padres off the board again. His last start went very well. He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk while lasting eight innings against the Dodgers. He's undefeated in five career starts against San Diego, collecting three wins and pitching to the tune of a 3.48 ERA. This season he is 6-6 in 16 starts. Hopefully our offense won't have a repeat performance of last night and they can get back to the run-scoring, game-winning offense that we saw on the road and in the series opener on Thursday.
#Padres lineup vs. #Reds: Denorfia 9, Amarista 6, Headley 5, Quentin 7, Grandal 2, Alonso 3, Maybin 8, Forsythe 4, Richard 1.
— Follow The Padres (@FollowThePadres) July 7, 2012
Our Padres need to put a couple of good games together to go into the All Star Break on a high note. Winning this series would make a much-needed statement that, even after the rough first half we've had, this team isn't just going to lay down the rest of the season.
GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!