Game 24 Preview: 05/01 Padres vs. Rockies

After losing seven of their last eight games and ending their April with an 11-12 record, the Padres got a little breather yesterday on their off day. But today they're back at it and will try to get May started on a positive note as they welcome the Rockies to Petco Park.

Ian Kennedy makes his second start since coming back from the DL and looks to have a better outing than his last. On Saturday he gave up eight earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work against the NL-West-leading Dodgers. It was his worst start in almost two years. In 18 career starts against Colorado, Kennedy is 5-4 with a 2.86 ERA.

Before the off day yesterday, the Padres suffered their first ever three-game sweep by the Astros at home. The series was rough on both sides of the ball, with the offense averaging three runs per game while pitching gave up an average of 10 runs per game. The put a real damper on an April that started off so promising, but the Padres are still just one game under .500 - an improvement over Aprils past. Additionally, despite the less productive offense in the last series, San Diego still ended up leading the National League in runs scored in April, hopefully a trend that can continue into May and the rest of the season.

The Rockies also had the day off yesterday and hope to improve on their 11-10 record coming into this series in San Diego. They'll send rookie Eddie Butler to the hill to start things off and make his first career start against the Friars. In four starts this season, Butler is 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA. Thanks to a rain-out on Thursday, plus yesterday's scheduled off day, he'll be working on six days of rest.

Tune in at 7:10 pm PT for the series opener and hopefully to see the early-April Padres make their triumphant return.