Padres welcome in the Guardians for three games

The San Diego Padres finished a three-game series on the road against the Colorado Rockies and now are back at home to face the Cleveland Guardians.

The Padres front office and coaching staff probably didn’t want the off day yesterday because they had to sit and keep thinking about how they lost two leads in the series finale. But hey, a series win is a series win and they move on.

The Padres showed some positive signs in that series but the offense with runners in scoring position is still an issue. Friday night was great, as they scored at least nine runs for the second consecutive game but then they went back to being the 2023 Padres in the final two games.

On Saturday, the Padres went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position (so they just have to be happy they got a win out of it) and on Sunday they went 1-for-7.

As I’ve said for what feels like the hundredth time this year, we’ll see if they can be better in those situations consistently starting against Cleveland.

The Guardians enter 31-34, good enough for second in the bad American League Central. They also had a day off on Monday after taking both series against the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros.

If Friday night tells you anything, it’s that this group of players isn’t going to give up if they get down. Cleveland faced deficits of 4-0, 5-1, 6-5, 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8 but then came back to tie it and win it over the Astros in the bottom of the 14th inning.

Jose Ramirez continues to be their best player, as he has 10 homers on the year and is leading Cleveland in bWAR (2.2).

Shane Bieber won’t be taking the bump at Petco Park, which should be a good thing for the Friars. The former Cy Young award winner has a 0.71 ERA in the month of June. Here are the pitching matchups for the series:

Tonight: Joe Musgrove (SD) vs. Tanner Bibee (CLE)

First Pitch: 6:40 pm PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Musgrove’s last outing (June 6): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

Bibee’s last outing (June 7): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Wednesday: Michael Wacha (SD) vs. Aaron Civale (CLE)

First Pitch: 6:40 pm PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Wacha’s last outing (June 7): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Civale’s last outing (June 8): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Thursday: Yu Darvish (SD) vs. Logan Allen (CLE)

First Pitch: 5:40 pm PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Darvish’s last outing (June 9): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

Allen’s last outing (June 9): 6 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K