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After completing a sweep of the Braves, then taking the day off yesterday, the Padres will open up a ten-game stretch against NL West rivals. They'll start with a three-game home series against the division-leading Diamondbacks. San Diego has been playing some fantastic baseball lately. Fresh off their sweep of Atlanta, they will try to keep the offensive production going. They've won six of their last eight games and have once again worked their way to within two games of .500 as well as five games back from first place.
Eric Stults will open up the series against the Diamondbacks tonight and try to build on the success of his last start. He kept the Rockies to just two runs in seven strong innings at Coors Field. After having a rough April, the left-hander has settled into his role in the rotation and has since been pitching much better. He comes into tonight's game with a 1.93 June ERA after posting a 2.66 in May, much improved from his 5.57 in April. He is 3-3 all-time against the Dbacks, but lost to them earlier this season when the Padres traveled to Chase Field. He was tagged for four runs in 6 1/3 innings as the Dbacks went on to win 5-2.
Meanwhile, Arizona is coming off an emotional series win in L.A., where they took part in a benches-clearing brawl. No suspensions or fines have been handed out to the Dbacks yet, so it remains to be seen whether or not the incident will affect their lineup like it has the Dodgers. After losing the game in which the brawl took place, Arizona was able to bounce back and take the final game to clinch the series.
They'll send San Diego native Trevor Cahill to the mound in tonight's matchup. Cahill was rolling along this season until recently. Over his last two starts, he's given up a combined 13 runs over 8 2/3 total innings. He made his shortest appearance of the season his last time out, going just 3 2/3 innings and allowing eight runs to the Giants. The righty is a career 2-2 against his hometown team, but went 1-0 in two starts at Petco Park last season.