Padres Preview 4/15: Clayton Richard takes on R.A. Dickey and the Braves

After a 5-2 loss against the Braves in their new ballpark, the Padres will look to get back on track by putting her best arm in Clayton Richard on the mound against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Clayton has had a solid two outings so far for the Padres, owning a team-best 2.57 ERA. Richard has been sticking to what worked for him last season: inducing ground-outs. Clayton lead the league in ground-out rate last season and has produced 22 grounders for outs so far in the season. The Padres left-hander will try to shake off a winless record against the Braves: he's 0-5 with a 6.91 ERA in eight games (five being starts) against Atlanta.

R.A. Dickey will bring his knuckleball to the mound for the home team Braves in their new digs. Though Dickey currently owns a 4.76 ERA his knuckler has been working; his defense, however, has not been supportive. Dickey’s catcher Kurt Suzuki allowed three passed balls and 3rd baseman Adonis Garcia made two errors in Dickey’s last outing, all leading to 3 unearned runs. Of Padres who have faced R.A. Dickey, only Wil Myers and Erick Aybar have more than three at-bats against the 42-year-old and both struggled (2-18 and 4-18, respectively). Dickey was roughed up in his last appearance against the Friars in Toronto last year (seven runs, six earned over 5 1/3) and is 1-3 with a 3.90 ERA in five starts against San Diego.

Today’s game starts at 4:10PM Left Coast Time.