The Padres Game on Monday brings together two clubs trying to hold ground in tight division races, with San Diego visiting the Sacramento Athletics after taking two of three from the rival Dodgers to start the week. The Padres enter at 29-20, second in the NL West and 1½ games out of first place, while the Athletics are 26-24, first in the AL West and riding three straight wins with a 1½-game lead over Texas.
The numbers say both teams have found different ways to stay in the chase. Sacramento is tied for seventh in OPS at.726 despite a minus-4 run differential, while San Diego sits 29th in OPS at.658 but has gotten more help from a bullpen that ranks seventh at 3.32. The Athletics’ bullpen is 21st at 4.44, and their rotation ERA of 4.24 ranks 18th. The Padres are 21st in rotation ERA at 4.45 and plus-3 in run differential, 11th overall.
At the plate, the month has belonged to a few hot bats on both sides. Zack Gelof and Brent Rooker each have five home runs in the month for Sacramento, Shea Langeliers has four, and Nick Kurtz has piled up 21 RBIs in 19 games with a team-best 1.017 OPS. Tyler Soderstrom has been much quieter at.561 OPS. San Diego has seen Gavin Sheets post five home runs and a 1.058 OPS in May, while Miguel Andujar opened the month with four home runs and an.813 OPS. Manny Machado, though, has only a.439 OPS in May even with three homers, a reminder that the Padres’ recent success has not come with consistent production across the lineup. No regular Padres player has an OPS above.585 this month because Sheets and Andujar have not had enough at-bats to qualify among the leaders.
The matchup also turns on how the bullpens are being used. Hogan Harris leads the Athletics relievers with 26 appearances this season, followed by Justin Sterner with 24 and Scott Barlow and Mark Leiter with 23 apiece. For San Diego, Jason Adam has not allowed an earned run in 7⅔ innings this month, Mason Miller has not allowed one in 7⅓ innings, Wandy Peralta has done it in 9⅔ innings and Yuki Matsui in 10 innings. That matters with both teams carrying starting staffs that have been more useful than dominant.
Jeffrey Springs gets the ball for Sacramento at 3-4 with a 3.93 ERA. He averages 91.4 mph on his fastball, which sits in the bottom 10 percent among qualifying pitchers, but he has limited damage in stretches with four quality starts in 10 outings. Springs has 47 strikeouts and 16 walks over 55 innings and an 8.31 ERA in 8⅔ career innings against San Diego. He did, however, beat the Padres in a quality start last year in Sacramento.
Walker Buehler starts for San Diego at 3-2 with a 5.01 ERA, though he has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his last seven starts. Buehler has a 3.16 ERA in five starts at Petco Park and is holding right-handers to a.600 OPS. His only start against the Athletics came in 2020. The Athletics counter with J.T. Ginn, who is 2-2 with a 2.98 ERA and just threw eight innings in his last start. Ginn has a 44-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 51⅓ innings, a 2.64 ERA in eight starts, and is facing San Diego for the first time.
There is also a pitching question hanging over the Padres after Lucas Giolito’s debut. Giolito is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA after allowing three runs in five innings Sunday in Seattle, when he struck out three and walked three. He has a 5.01 ERA in four career starts against the Athletics and a 7.71 ERA in one career start at Petco Park. On the other side, Jacob Lopez enters at 3-2 with a 6.14 ERA, has given up 11 home runs in 44 innings, and has not completed six innings in a start this year. He also has 30 walks and 32 strikeouts and will be seeing San Diego for the first time.
Michael King gave the Padres the kind of outing they can lean on when the offense goes quiet, striking out nine over seven shutout innings to beat the Dodgers in his best start of the season. King is 4-2 with a 2.31 ERA, has allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his 10 starts and owns a 3.75 ERA in 12 career innings against Los Angeles. Against a Sacramento club that has found just enough offense to stay in first, that sort of control could decide whether San Diego leaves Monday with another step forward in the standings or just another hard-earned split in a crowded chase.
Padres Game Today: Dodgers edge San Diego 5-4 on Pages' ninth-inning fly
