Padres Preview: 05/09 vs. Nationals

After almost being no-hit last night in a 4-0 shutout the Padres will send Joey Lucchesi to the mound in the attempt to salvage a win from the visiting Nationals.

Lucchesi (3-2, 3.13 ERA) last pitched in the absolute slog that was Monterrey in his last appearance. The rain did not do the lefty any good: he coughed up 3 runs with 2 being of the longball variety. While Lucchesi hasn’t been quite as sharp lately as he had been in the beginning of the season there is still plenty of promise in Joey Fuego: he’s still the only Padre on the starting staff with a winning record and has the lowest ERA of the bunch. Tonight he’ll face off against Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez (4-2, 2.33 ERA) may give the Padres offense more woes tonight. Gio has a superb record against the Padres: the right hander is 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 7 career starts against San Diego. Gio is even better in Petco with a 2-1 2.55 ERA in 4 starts.

There is hope yet: contrary to the statlines I’ve fed you above Rotowire has this matchup set as a “cold pitcher” matchup: this collection of Padres batters have a collective .279 batting average against Gio Gonzalez. I imagine this is due mainly to Eric Hosmer and his career .714 batting average in 7 at-bats versus Gonzalez. Freddy Galvis has seen a ton of Gonzalez (42 ABs) and has a career .262 batting average against as well.

Tonight’s finale picks up at 6:10 PM. Let’s win one for Gwynn on his birthday!

Game Time: 6:10 PM PST
TV: FSSD, Fox Sports Deportes (Spanish)
Radio: 97.3, XEMO 860 (Spanish)