Can a return to Petco Park

Geregistreerd op: 31 Dec 2018 Berichten: 57

SAN DIEGO — in San Diego get Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners back on track?History as well as the Padres‘ 2018 season says Seattle’s trip to San Diego Tuesday and Wednesday might be exactly what Hernandez and the Mariners need to rekindle their fading playoff hopes in the American League West.There is a flicker of hope here as the third-place Mariners come to San Diego trailing Houston by 6 1/2 games in the division race and Oakland by five games in the race for the American League’s second wild-card berth.Article continues below ...While the Mariners are playing the worst team in the National League — aka http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-rusney-castillo-jersey , the Padres — the A’s and Astros will be going head to head in Houston.The Mariners need a sweep of their two games in San Diego — the first half of a four-game, home-and-home with the Padres — and that is an attainable goal. The Padres return from a 1-5 road trip against National League playoff contenders Colorado and the Dodgers after losing three of four to division-leading Arizona at home.If the Mariners are struggling, the Padres are plummeting. San Diego has gone 7-15 over its last 22 games and are on pace to lose 101 games.And while Felix Hernandez hasn’t exactly been a “King” this season, he has always been the emperor of the Padres, particularly in San Diego.The 32-year-old, 6-foot-3, 225-pound Venezuelan has a 6-3 lifetime record against the Padres with a 2.90 earned run average in 12 starts with a .228 opponents’ batting average and a 1.076 WHIP.But he’s been even tougher on the Padres in San Diego.Hernandez owns a 5-0 lifetime record in seven starts at Petco Park with a 1.51 ERA, a 0.764 WHIP and a .171 opponents’ batting average. In 53 2/3 innings at Petco Park — or almost eight innings per start — Hernandez has given up nine runs on 31 hits and 10 walks with 60 strikeouts.Overall, Hernandez has made 12 starts against the Padres. He has given up 28 runs (27 earned) on 69 hits and 21 walks with 87 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings.But does that Hernandez still exist? The Venezuelan has struggled this season … and the situation is not getting better as we enter the final month of the season.Hernandez is 8-11 this season with a 5.64 ERA and a 1.415 WHIP in 25 starts. Over his last four appearances (three starts), Hernandez is 0-2 with a 5.96 ERA and a 1.456 WHIP. And on the road this season Chris Sale Jersey , Hernandez is 4-6 with a 7.ERA and a 1.624 WHIP in 12 games (11 starts).Opposing Hernandez Tuesday will be 22-year-old Padres rookie right-hander Jacob Nix. The 6-foot-3, 233-pound Nix is 1-2 after three starts with a 6.17 ERA. After allowing only four hits and two walks over six scoreless innings in his major league debut on Aug. 10, Nix has allowed eight runs on 10 hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in his two most recent starts.Nix will be facing the Mariners for the first time in his career. This will also be his first interleague game. Blake Snell has faced the Toronto Blue Jays twice this season en route to what looks like the second Cy Young Award in the 20-year history of the Tampa Bay Rays.In those two games, Snell has pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 17.Saturday night, he faces the Jays in his final start of the year, looking for his 22nd win when he faces Ryan Borucki in the second game of the final three-game series of the season.Article continues below ...Snell has 26 starts of two earned runs or less — 20 of one run or less. He has won nine straight starts, with a 1.03 ERA and is undefeated in 10 starts in August and September. His last loss came on July 12, before he went on the disabled list.The left-hander just defeated the Blue Jays last weekend in Toronto, when he outpitched Borucki Tyler Thornburg Jersey , a hard-luck loser.“I think I’ll be telling my grandkids that I played behind him,” Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said after that game.Said manager Kevin Cash: “I think he’s pretty much cemented his case that he belongs, not just in the conversation but right at the top of the list. He’s been dominant now for a couple of months.”Snell’s last win came with his team still mathematically alive in its late-season charge at a wild-card berth. That changed the next night when the Rays were officially eliminated, making the final days less meaningful.Not for Snell, who broke David Price’s franchise record of 20 victories.The Jays were playing meaningless games a long time ago, and this weekend they’re playing their final series under manager John Gibbons after word came out Wednesday that Gibbons will not be overseeing the team’s rebuild.Friday night, Toronto nipped the Rays 7-6 as Tampa Bay lost its second straight game, its fourth in five home games this week.Borucki has been a bright spot in a tough season, coming into this start 4-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 16 starts.He has faced the Rays twice, going 0-2 but allowing just four runs in 13 innings while striking out 12.Before last Sunday’s start http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-jackie-bradley-jr-jersey , the lefty threw eight scoreless innings, striking out seven, in a win at Baltimore. Then he ran into Snell.“It was definitely cool, he pitched a really good game,” Borucki said. “He had all of his stuff working, kept us off balance and did a really good job. I was just trying to keep us in it, as close as we could. I had a couple of costly errors that cost me a couple of runs, but that’s just how it goes. He’s a pretty good pitcher.”So, apparently, is Borucki Roger Clemens Jersey , who tossed his 11th quality start out of 16.“The kid can just pitch,” said Gibbons. “I think his breaking ball has gotten better since he has been here and he knows what he’s doing. He can throw different things in different times. … The bottom line is he can pitch. He has a feel for what he is doing and that can take him a long way.”The current Rays are just 6-for-44 (.176) with no homers against Borucki, Mallex Smith 1-for-7 (.143) and C.J. Cron 1-for-6 (.167).Devon Travis is 3-for-7 (.429) and Kevin Pillar 5-for-14 (.357) with a home run against Snell, but Kendrys Morales is 1-for-11 (.091), the hit a homer, Randal Grichuk 1-for-8 (.125) and Justin Smoak 2-for-12 (.167) against him.