The San Diego Padres took their 9-3 loss Sunday at the seven-win Colorado Rockies in stride.
“One hundred sixty-two,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said, referring to the length of a baseball season. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
San Diego will try to paint a prettier picture Monday night when it opens a six-game homestand with the first of three games against the Los Angeles Angels.
A 6-3 road trip, including a sweep of Pittsburgh and two wins in Colorado that sandwiched losing two of three to the New York Yankees, boosted the Padres over .500 away from San Diego for the first time this year at 11-10.
“Good road trip overall,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Absolutely, that’s good baseball.”
The Padres won games and also gained players. The return of All-Stars Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth from the injured list during the trip made their lineup whole for the first time since early April.
They finished with 45 hits in Colorado — 40 in the first two games of thee-game series. While Merrill was scratched about 90 minutes before first pitch Sunday due to illness, it’s not expected to keep him on the bench more than a game or two.
And San Diego is back at Petco Park, its bayside yard where it’s 14-4 on the season What’s more, the Padres will start the series with ace Michael King (4-1, 2.22 ERA) on the mound. He’s coming off a no-decision in Tuesday night’s 12-3 loss against the Yankees.
Facing his former team for the first time, King gave up just three hits and two runs in six innings, walking two and striking out two. He left with a 3-2 lead before Adrian Morejon and Wandy Peralta gave up 10 runs in the seventh inning.
King has faced Los Angeles three times in his career, going 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Angels will make the bus ride down Interstate 5 after a 7-3 loss Sunday at home to Baltimore dropped them to 7-18 since a 9-5 start. Their MLB-low .274 on-base percentage has led to them scoring an average of less than four runs per game despite ranking in a tie for fifth in the majors with 52 homers.
Their lineup on Sunday featured no one hitting better than Zach Neto’s .268 and four starters batting under .200. Predictably, the Angels were held to six hits and struck out 10 times against a team with a staff ERA higher than 5.00.
They’ll turn to left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (0-4, 3.83 ERA) in an effort to get their road trip started on a good note. He last pitched on Wednesday, going six innings and allowing just one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in his team’s 5-4 win over Toronto.
Kikuchi is below his norms in whiff rate and chase percentage but also has the second-best ERA of his career in eight starts.
“The last two games I’ve pitched,” he said, “(I’m) getting my feeling back. Definitely throwing more strikes. I feel like I’m being myself.”
Kikuchi is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in three career starts against the Padres, allowing 24 baserunners and three homers in just 14 innings.
–Field Level Media
