08/10 Padres Preview: Game 116 @ Cincinnati

Padres pitching couldn't quiet the Reds' bats last night as San Diego dropped the first game of the series. Today Tyson Ross will try to continue his success since returning to the starting role. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA in three starts since rejoining the Padres rotation following a DL stint and some time in the bullpen and at Triple-A Tucson. In his only loss, he pitched more than well enough for a win, keeping the Yankees to two runs on three hits while collecting a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings of work, but the offense failed to put any runs on the board to back him.

The offense struggled last night as well, being limited to just two runs against Cincinnati's seven. Over their last ten games, San Diego has hit .135 with runners in scoring position and averaged less than three runs per game. With Nick Hundley and Jedd Gyorko still slumping, Everth Cabrera out for the season, and Carlos Quentin hitting the DL, the offensive woes seem to have no end in sight. One bright spot from last night's contest was Logan Forsythe, who went 2-for-4 with a homer. Prior to the game he had been mired in a 7-for-63 funk.

The Friars will need to do better today against Tony Cingrani, who has also gone 2-1 since rejoining the rotation last month. Cingrani has only made it through six innings in one of his five home starts this season, but he's kept opponents to three or fewer runs each time.

He'll hope for the same kind of run support his teammate Bronson Arroyo got last night. The Reds have won three games and will look to get for straight for the first time since May. They've won four of five while averaging more than five runs per game and hitting a collective .256 sitting that stretch. Prior to that they were stuck in a 1-6 skid that saw them hitting .178 while averaging less than two runs per game.

The Padres and Reds battle it out at 4:10 this afternoon.