The San Diego Padres and host San Francisco Giants will send out first- and second-year starters, respectively, on Tuesday night when they continue a four-game series.
Right-handers Ryan Bergert of the Padres and Landen Roupp of the Giants are the scheduled starters in the rematch of a tense series opener that featured three hit batters — but not a whole lot of hits — in San Diego’s 1-0, 10-inning win.
Bergert (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who made four relief appearances earlier this season before getting demoted to Triple-A, will be recalled from the minors to make his first major league start. He will take the spot previously occupied by Michael King, who is out with a right shoulder injury.
The Padres also have been without Yu Darvish (right elbow inflammation) all season.
Bergert was with his El Paso team in Sacramento for a series last weekend, so he was just a car ride away from joining the Padres in San Francisco. He last pitched on Wednesday, throwing four scoreless innings.
The 25-year-old pitched well in his four relief opportunities for the Padres in April and May, allowing just one hit over four scoreless single-inning outings.
The rookie hopes that experience helps soothe the butterflies often aroused by a first major league start.
“It definitely was good to get my feet wet a little bit,” said Bergert, who was demoted on May 7. “That kind of made it a little bit more normal than it would have been coming up debuting as a starter. It just gave me a comfort level.”
Despite getting 5 2/3 innings of three-hit ball from Stephen Kolek and a combined shutout from five pitchers in the series opener, the Padres have struggled on the mound of late. Their 4.44 team ERA in May was the seventh worst in the majors.
Seeing an offensively challenged Giants lineup for the first time should help Bergert as well. San Francisco was held to four or fewer runs for the 15th consecutive game on Monday. None of the Giants’ five hits in the series opener went for extra bases.
After earning a rotation spot in training camp, Roupp (3-4, 3.54 ERA) has joined Logan Webb and Robbie Ray as mainstays on a staff that has seen Justin Verlander get hurt and Jordan Hicks get bumped to the bullpen. Roupp made just four major league starts last season.
Roupp, 26, pitched far better than his 1-2 record would indicate in May, allowing just five earned runs over five starts for a 1.73 ERA. The Giants scored four or fewer runs in four of his five starts.
Roupp has been joined by Hayden Birdsong out of the bullpen and Kyle Harrison from the minors as rotation fillers on a starting staff that has kept the team afloat despite the offensive woes.
“It’s kind of cool to have three guys that are as talented as they are,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “It means we have some depth, and it means we have a good rotation.”
Roupp surrendered a home run to catcher Elias Diaz in a 5-3 loss at San Diego in April. He has faced the Padres five times in his two-year career, twice as a starter, going 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA.
With Ray and Roupp leading the way, the Giants led the majors in ERA in May at 2.64. That was far better than the second-best mark, the Texas Rangers’ 2.98.
–Field Level Media
