Padres Preview: 07/26 vs. Mets

The Padres continue their series against the Mets tonight at Petco Park, pitting Jhoulys Chacin against Steven Matz in the third game of a four-game series.

After several hiccups over the first couple month of the season, Chacin has been solid and consistent since the start of June, becoming one of the more reliable arms in the Padres rotation. Since June 3rd, a stretch of nine games, he has thrown to the tune of a 2.72 ERA while going 5-3. Although that's not necessarily good news for the Padres' tank, it's great in terms of Chacin's trade value.

In facing the Mets today, however, Chacin faces a team he's really struggled against in the past. In eight career appearances (seven starts) against the Mets, he's just 1-5 with a 6.50 ERA and 1.750 WHIP. He made his worst start of the season against them on May 23rd, only lasting 2/3 of an inning and giving up seven earned runs on eight hits before being taken out.

The lefty Matz made his first and only career start against the Padres at the end of last season. In his final outing of 2016, he threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings against San Diego, keeping them to only one hit and two walks while striking out eight batters.

Matz was recalled by the Mets in June and pitched well over his first five starts. But he's struggled in his three starts going into tonight's matchup. His ERA ballooned from 2.12 on July 3rd to 4.67 on July 21st after giving up 15 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings over those last three starts.

Game time: 7:10 pm PT
TV: FSSD, Fox Deportes San Diego (Sp.)
Radio: FM 94.9, XEMO 860 (Sp.)