Padres and Blue Jays both motivated to beat the other in Toronto

You might look at the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays records and think that the two teams aren’t similar. Toronto is eight games over .500 at 53-41 while San Diego is six games under at 44-50. However, they definitely share one thing heading into today’s series opener: motivation.

This feels like do or die for the Padres. Manny Machado said Sunday was a must-win game and they lost so maybe the season’s already over but we know the urgency is felt inside that clubhouse. Days keep passing without them making up much ground in the NL Wild Card race. In fact, they lost ground over the weekend, as they now sit eight games back of the final postseason spot.

Losing two out of three would drop them to seven games under .500 and we’d be three days closer to the trade deadline. If the players don’t want to see Blake Snell and Josh Hader walk out the door, wins needs to be had in Toronto.

The Blue Jays have a much better record and are actually in the postseason race right now, as they hold one of the AL Wild Card spots. However, they only have a 2.5 game lead on the Boston Red Sox for a postseason spot so they’re trying to keep their postseason spot.

After this series with the Friars, Toronto has to play five teams who are either definitely going to make the postseason or are going to be fighting for their lives to get into postseason position—the Seattle Mariners (47-46), Los Angeles Dodgers (54-39), Los Angeles Angels (47-48), Baltimore Orioles (57-36) and Boston Red Sox (51-44). Winning this series would be helpful for the Jays.

Tonight: Joe Musgrove (SD) vs. Alek Manoah (TOR)

First Pitch: 4:07 pm PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Musgrove’s last outing (July 9): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

Manoah’s last outing (July 7): 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Wednesday: Yu Darvish (SD) vs. Jose Berrios (TOR)

First Pitch: 4:07 pm PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Darvish’s last outing (July 14): 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

Berrios’ last outing (July 14): 5.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Thursday: Blake Snell (SD) vs. Chris Bassitt (TOR)

First Pitch: 10:07 am PT, MLB-San Diego Padres, 97.3 The Fan

Snell’s last outing (July 15): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Bassitt’s last outing (July 15): 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K