Padres send Despaigne to the mound in finale against Twins

After falling in the first game of the road trip, the Padres hope to salvage a win in the season series finale against the Twins and fuel their happy flight to Pittsburgh. Odrisamer Despaigne toes the slab as he hopes to rebound from a couple of less than stellar outings and recapture some of the magic from his first five career starts.

Overall this year Despaigne is 2-3 with a 2.68 ERA, but eight of his thirteen total earned runs have come in his two most recent starts. Last time out, the Cardinals had no trouble waiting for their pitch and recognizing it, as he surrendered six runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed two walks and hit a batter while collecting three strikeouts to complete his line. OD is at his best when he is able to get ahead early in the count and force hitters off balance to induce ground balls. When he doesn't have his command, it causes him to chase the center of the zone with his fastball and batters have no problem barreling those up for line drives.

Going for the Twins is San Diegan and former Friar, Kevin Correia. The 2011 All-Star has had a rough go of it this year as he’s 5-13 with a 4.96 ERA. His last start, against the Royals on July 31st, was one of his better ones on the season as he pitched six innings of two-run ball, via five hits and no walks, while collecting four strikeouts. Hopefully the dynamic post-all-star break Padres offense can pump up his ERA back over five.

First pitch this morning is scheduled for 10:10 PT.

And don't forget to check out today's SB Nation Fantasy Baseball league on FanDuel. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. There's also an MLB Squeeze (Late Night) league with a first prize of $1,200 if you miss the first one. You can join at this link.