Series preview: Padres close out season vs. Giants

San Diego Padres (78-81) vs. San Francisco Giants (105-54), October 1-3, 2021

Location: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA

TV: Bally Sports San Diego

Radio: KWFN, XEMO

Giants SB Nation Site: McCovey Chronicles

It’s the final series of the year! Padres vs. Giants!

Here’s a look at what we can expect this weekend:

Projected Starters

Friday, 6:45 p.m. PST

Pedro Avila vs. Anthony DeSclafani (12-7, 3.26 ERA)

Saturday, 1:05 p.m. PST

Joe Musgrove (11-9, 3.22 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (14-6, 2.87 ERA)

Sunday, 12:05 p.m. PST

TBD vs. Logan Webb (10-3, 2.93 ERA)

Projected Lineups

Padres

1. Trent Grisham (CF)
2. Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF)
3. Manny Machado (3B)
4. Jake Cronenworth (SS)
5. Austin Nola (C)
6. Eric Hosmer (1B)
7. Wil Myers (LF)
8. Adam Frazier (2B)
9. Starting Pitcher

Giants

1. LaMonte Wade Jr. (RF)
2. Kris Bryant (LF)
3. Buster Posey (C)
4. Brandon Crawford (SS)
5. Evan Longoria (3B)
6. Wilmer Flores (1B)
7. Mike Yastrzemski (CF)
8. Donovan Solano (2B)
9. Starting Pitcher

The Padres may be playing for pride, but they are playing for a little bit more than that.

The Padres are looking to stay .500 this weekend. In order to do so, they’ll need to sweep the best team in the league, the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants need to still clinch the NL West, which they can do with two wins this weekend.

If the Padres spoil the Giants’ division title hopes, the door opens for the Dodgers.

The series this weekend holds importance for several teams except the Padres, but if the Padres can stir up a little bit of havoc before heading on vacation, it might show a little bit of hope for 2022.