The San Diego Padres turned in a dominating performance against the San Francisco Giants in the second game of their series at Petco Park. The San Diego rotation limited the San Francisco lineup to just two hits and the offense broke out for seven runs scoring in four of the eight innings. The Padres used just three pitchers to get through the contest, which means the bullpen will have the majority of its arms available in the third game of the series.
Taking the mound
Walker Buehler (SD) v. Tyler Mahle (SF)
Walker Buehler has become one of just two pitchers in the San Diego rotation who is treated as a true starter. He and Michael King are the two rotation arms who are expected to perform night in and night out when he takes the mound. Buehler holds a 6-5 record and a 5.13 ERA with 91 strikeouts over 100.0 innings pitched in 21 games this season.
Tyler Mahle has appeared in 17 games this season and amassed a 3-9 record with a 4.96 ERA. The Giants are expected to be sellers at the Trade Deadline, so this may be an audition of sorts for Mahle who might be a trade target of other teams around the league. He has only allowed four runs over his last three games, which included a six-inning performance his last time out against the Milwaukee Brewers. Mahle kept the Brewers scoreless and will look to replicate that performance against the Padres.
Batter up!
The San Diego offense banged out 12 hits last night, resulting in seven runs scored. Luis Campusano, Ty France and Jase Bowen all had multi-hit nights and France collected three RBI. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado chipped in with a hit apiece and Jackson Merrill was the only player in the Padres lineup not to record a hit. San Diego will need to have a duplicate performance to give themselves a chance to win their second game of the series.
Relief corps
German Marquez pitched five innings in relief and earned the save after Bradgley Rodriguez and Yukie Matsui pitched the first four innings. That means the majority of the Padres’ bullpen is intact, rested and ready to be called on by manager Craig Stammen should Buehler run into trouble.
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