Padres travel to Arizona for two games
Credit: MLB Logo
After another high-intensity series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and an improbable comeback, the San Diego Padres will travel to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks. These two teams will face each other just twice this time around.
The Padres opened the season by hosting the Diamondbacks in a four-game series. San Diego won the first three before dropping the finale.
Now, the Padres will play two games in Chase Field, where the Padres struggled recently. The Padres have lost 10 straight games at Chase Field and were swept in each of the last three series while visiting the Diamondbacks. San Diego’s last win at Chase Field was on April 13, 2019.
In the opening series, Arizona got to face the top of the Padres’ elite rotation. This time around, the Padres will throw Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers against the snakes.
Chris Paddack took the loss in his first outing of 2021 against Arizona in the opening series after only lasting four innings. The Diamondbacks jumped on Paddack early for two runs in the first inning and an unearned run in the third inning.
Despite the loss last time out, Paddack has a stout track record against the Diamondbacks. Paddack boasts a career 3.72 ERA in just over two years in the bigs. However, he owns a 1.95 ERA against Arizona in 32 1/3 innings, which is the best he’s pitched against any opponent. Paddack will look to continue his success against the Diamondbacks when he toes the rubber on Tuesday.
He’ll go up against Merrill Kelly, Arizona’s starter for Tuesday. Kelly is off to a rough start in 2021. In four starts, Kelly holds a 7.71 ERA in 21 innings. He pitched in game two of the opening series against the Padres, going five innings for three runs.
Similar to Paddack, Kelly has a decent track record against San Diego. In 43 innings, which is far and away the most against any opponent for Kelly, he boasts a 3.12 ERA with 41 strikeouts.
In game two, Ryan Weathers will make his first start that isn’t against the Dodgers. Weathers did close out the victory in game three against Arizona, going three scoreless for the save with three strikeouts. The young lefty is yet to allow run as a starter.
Ryan Weathers was dealing 👀
5 2/3 IP
1 H
0 R
1 BB
6 K pic.twitter.com/WtQpxMPfeV— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2021
Taylor Widener will be the starter for the Diamondbacks against Weathers. Widener started the lone victory for Arizona in the opening series with six shutout innings. He continued his success from his first start, as Widener currently has a 2.82 ERA on the season through 22 1/3 innings.
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Both games will begin at 6:40 PT. The Padres return to San Diego for an off-day before hosting the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”
Off to a bad start in AZ. We look like a mediocre team that can’t beat the teams we should be beating. To beat the Dodgers is great but if we can’t beat the other teams we should be beating.
So far this year, from what I’ve seen, we are not a playoff team.