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Today’s afternoon baseball action is either exciting for those looking for a sweep or depressing for those hoping the Padres would lay down against the winning-in-tanking-for-the-pick Philadelphia Phillies.
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The Friars will send Clayton Richard (5-12, 5.14 ERA) to the mound. Your favorite hat collector attended his last outing in Los Angeles: a three-run, eight-hit six-inning stint that could have went a lot worse led to a no-decision. Clayton hasn’t earned a pitcher win (if you’re into that stat) in his last 5 starts and has consecutive no-decisions coming into this afternoon’s action; his last win was June 13th against the Reds. Richard will try to shake off the bugaboo facing off against the Phils as he’s never won a game against Philadelphia.
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Strangely enough, Nick Pivetta (4-7, 6.29 ERA) did really well in his sole appearance against the Padres in which he also faced off against...Clayton Richard. Pivetta went seven innings and coughed up only three runs on July 7th when the Friars visited Philly (wearing those sweet 1983 throwbacks, if you recall). While touted as having ace-potential stuff, Pivetta is coming off two starts where he hasn’t made it past the 5th inning and is currently at a 15.95 ERA for the month of August. Pivetta’s current woes have been attributed to pitch location: Padres hitters should look for those sweet-spot balls left hanging over the middle of the plate.
Both teams are coming in with players getting hot at the plate in the series: Cory Spangenberg led the team to victory last night via the donger and a two-run double. The Phils’ rookie Rhys Hoskins seems to be enjoying his visit to Petco Park: he’s hit 3 homers in his two games here.
Whether you want the sweep or not, the Pads and Phils will hit the field for the last game of the series today at 12:40 PM Left Coast Time.
Game Time: 12:40 PM PST
TV: FSSD, Fox Deportes (Español)
Radio: 94.9 FM, XEMO 860 (Spanish)