Game Preview: Game 134 @ Colorado Rockies

While it is saddening to see August end, it is now time for our Padres to kick September's butt. After posting an NL-West-best winning percentage last month, our standards are set pretty high for this next month. Tonight our boys will try to clinch the series in Colorado and get September started with a victory.

Edinson Volquez toes the rubber in his 28th start of the season. Against the Rockies, he is 3-2 all-time, having won both of his starts against them this season. Volquez has also won both of his last two starts after a rough three-game stretch from August 4-15 that saw him pitch just 8 2/3 innings combined. Over his last two, he has pitched a total of 13 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out 17 batters.

Our offense has improved dramatically since the first half of the season, and much of it has to do with the changes in the lineup. Adding players like Yasmani Grandal and Alexi Amarista and getting rid of players like Orlando Hudson, Jason Bartlett, and Nick Hundley have turned the team around. But there are also players who have been here all along and have heated up during the latter part of the season.

Chase Headley continues to produce at the plate and is coming off one of the best months offensively for a Padres player in franchise history. He outperformed the rest off the National League in August with his .306 average and 31 RBI. That RBI total along with his 10 home runs are the most since Phil Nevin in 1999.

Cameron Maybin has been on a tear recently as well. He is one of the biggest contributing factors in this 11-game stretch in which our Padres have racked up 10 victories. Over this stretch, he has hit .459 to raise his season average by 23 points. Last night, he went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. And he has had good career numbers at Colorado, hitting .323 all-time with nine extra base hits in 17 appearances at Coors Field.

However, Maybin is just 1-for-8 all-time against tonight's starter, Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin will be making his third start since returning from a 2-month stint on the DL with a right shoulder inflammation. He pitched well in his first two starts after returning from the DL. On August 21st he kept the Mets to just one run on four hits in six innings to get his first win of the season. His last time out, he kept the Cubs to one run as well, but was tagged with a tough-luck loss as his offense failed to provide him any run support before the game was called due to rain. Chacin has a 1-1 career record in three starts, all at Coors Field, against San Diego.