After limping into the All-Star break, both the Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres will look to start strong upon their return to action on Friday.
Losers in four of five games before the break, the Guardians will try to hand the visiting Padres a seventh defeat in their past eight Friday night.
At 58-37, Cleveland has the best record in the AL, but its lead in the Central Division is down to 4 1/2 games over the Minnesota Twins amid a 7-11 rut. The Guardians have hit .229 and averaged 3.4 runs over those 18 games, and they have been shut out twice in the past three.
“We’d all sign up to be where we are,” first-year Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Maybe not how (the All-Star break) got here or why or whatever.
“We’re not even close to being done.”
Despite the Guardians’ recent struggles, Steven Kwan is hitting a major league-best .352, Jose Ramirez is tied for third in the majors with 77 RBIs and Emmanuel Clase leads the American League with 29 saves. Meanwhile, Cleveland’s bullpen has an MLB-best 2.62 ERA and the club is 30-11 at home, where it has lost just one series this season.
Scheduled Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee (7-4, 3.77 ERA) posted a 1.50 ERA while winning his final three June starts, but has yielded eight runs, 11 hits and five walks over 11 2/3 innings while going 0-2 in July. The right-hander was also roughed by the Padres last season, allowing six runs, eight hits and two walks over four innings in his only appearance against San Diego.
Yet, Vogt is excited about his club’s return to the diamond.
“It’s going to be really fun and come back Friday ready to go,” Vogt added.
The Padres, meanwhile, haven’t had much fun of late, either. San Diego is one game over .500 and a game out of the final wild-card spot in the crowded NL but has lost eight of 12.
After opening their final home stretch before the break with a 10-8 victory over Arizona on July 5, the Padres were outscored 38-17 while going 1-6 against the Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves during the rest of the homestand.
“We need to find a way to be better,” said San Diego All-Star Jurickson Profar, who is batting .305 with 14 homers and 59 RBIs, all leading the team.
“We just need to find a way to come in the second half and play consistently good baseball.”
If that’s to be, San Diego’s bullpen needs to improve after posting an 8.64 ERA in the past eight games.
Thus, Padres manager Mike Shildt could use another lengthy outing from scheduled starter Matt Waldron (5-8, 3.71 ERA), who has lasted at least six innings in eight of his past nine starts. The right-hander went seven against Atlanta in his last start July 12 and allowed three of his four runs on two homers.
Teammate Xander Bogaerts has been a bright spot of late for the Padres with two hits in each of the two games since his return from missing nearly two months with a shoulder injury. He has batted .311 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs in 48 career games against Cleveland.
Meanwhile, fellow San Diego star Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to work his way back from a leg injury that’s kept him out since June 21.
–Field Level Media
