Padres vs Rockies series preview

The Padres start a 4 game set against the Colorado Rockies Thursday night. The boys have lost 4 in a row and sit 2 games under .500.

The Rockies come in at 35-32. After an awful start to the season, they’ve returned to form and seem poised to contend for a wild card spot.

Pitching match ups

Jon Gray 5-5 4.27 ERA vs. Matt Strahm 2-5 4.03 ERA

Jeff Hoffman 1-3 8.06 ERA vs. Cal Quantrill 1-2 4.85 ERA

German Marquez 6-3 4.15 ERA vs. Eric Lauer 5-5 4.14 ERA

Peter Lambert 2-0 1.50 ERA vs. Nick Margevicius 2-6 5.02 ERA

Hitters to watch

Eric Hosmer 8/27 1 HR 5 RBI 1 SB .296 BA last 7 games

Charlie Blackmon 9/28 2 HR 3 RBI .321 BA last 7 games

Ian Kinsler 8/25 1 HR 2 RBI .320 BA last 7 games

Fernando Tatis Jr. 10/25 2 HR 4 RBI 2 SB .400 BA last 7 games

What to expect:

Based on the pitching match ups alone, you’d think we may be in for a high scoring series. It’s unclear what to expect from Matt Strahm, but the Padres are hoping he can give them 5 clean innings before passing it to the (gulp) bullpen. Eric Lauer has a career bajillion ERA at Coors Field (ok, it’s 21.00. 14 ER in 6 IP) and Nick Margevicius is a big question mark. If Quantrill can avoid the big inning, he’s proven to be a reliable arm.

On the other side, there is one bit of intrigue. 22 year old rookie Peter Lambert has pitched well in his first 2 career starts. Both outings he faced a tough Cubs lineup and shut them down. That will be a tough test for the strikeout prone Padres. Marquez has been just OK and the Padres racked up 10 hits against him last month. Hoffman has been terrible, while Gray has been serviceable at best.

The biggest difference with these 2 teams is offense. The Rockies average 5.33 runs per game while the Padres average just under 4. Granted, they play at Coors Field. Their offense keeps them in games day after day. What Padre team will show up? The team that raked against the Blue Jays or the team that looked clueless vs the Giants?