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The Padres opened up their series against the Cardinals with an exciting and eventful win last night. Travis Jankowski started off his big league career with a bang, Justin Upton hit the 600-career-RBI milestone, Andrew Cashner finally got some much-needed and deserved run support to help make up for yet another defensive error, and the Friars won their 500th game ever at Petco Park.
It'll be Ian Kennedy on the mound for San Diego tonight, hoping to keep the Padres' recent run of success going and clinch a series win against the MLB-leading Cardinals. After a rocky start to his season, Kennedy has really settled down and become fairly reliable on the mound. The right-hander suffered an injury during his season debut, keeping him sidelined for a few weeks, and then went on to post a 7.15 ERA with a 2-5 record through April and May.
But since the beginning of June, Kennedy has gone 5-6 with a 2.82 ERA. In that stretch of 14 games, he's kept opponents to three or fewer runs 13 times. That includes a game against the Cardinals in St. Louis where he allowed three runs on seven hits, but walked no one and struck out four, through six innings of work. That game marked his fifth loss in seven all-time starts against the Cards, who have given him trouble throughout his career. Overall he is 2-5 with an 8.31 ERA against St. Louis.
Carlos Martinez has also had his share of struggles against the Padres. He'll take the mound for the Cardinals tonight in his 5th career outing against San Diego, but only second as a starter. Overall he's posted a 6.30 ERA, allowing seven runs on 18 hits through ten combined innings against the Friars. His lone start against them came earlier this season during the Padres' trip to St. Louis. That time he allowed only one run - a solo homer - in 6 2/3 innings of work, but didn't get the decision.
Game time: 5:40 pm PT
TV: FSSD, Fox Deportes San Diego (Sp.)
Radio: The Mighty 1090, La Poderosa 860 (Sp.)
Cardinals vs Padres coverage
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