Left-handers Joey Lucchesi and Jason Vargas will face each other in the rubber match of the series as the Padres will try to get their first road series win since July 7 to finish out the first half. The Phillies are 2-2 in their last 4 rubber matches.
Yesterday, the Padres came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-3. Dinelson Lamet collected his first hit of 2019, Josh Naylor hit the decisive 2-run double to tie it, and Ty France and Luis Urias had back-to-back singles to take a 2-run lead. Lamet finished 6 innings for a quality start and the bullpen threw just their fourth scoreless game in the last 13 games.
Padres’ Joey Lucchesi will make his team-leading 24th start of the season Sunday afternoon. Lucchesi has hit a rough patch lately, collecting a 5.06 earned run average and a 1-3 record. The 26-year-old southpaw is still searching for his 8th win of the season. He has not won a game since July 7 at the Dodgers.
Phillies’ Jason Vargas has a good past against San Diego. In one start in 2019, Vargas threw 6 shutout innings of one-run ball. He did walk 4 hitters and the Padres will need to be patient to get the series win against the Phillies.
| Sunday, August 18, 2019 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Padres | Philadelphia Phillies | |||||
| CF | Margot | .245 | 1B | Hoskins | .240 | |
| LF | Naylor | .255 | C | Realmuto | .282 | |
| 3B | Machado | .264 | RF | Harper | .252 | |
| RF | Renfroe | .238 | SS | Segura | .283 | |
| 1B | Hosmer | .290 | LF | Dickerson | .286 | |
| 2B | France | .229 | CF | Kingery | .271 | |
| SS | Urias | .181 | 2B | Hernandez | .281 | |
| C | Hedges | .183 | 3B | Rodriguez | .221 | |
| P | Lucchesi | .081 | P | Vargas | .250 | |
San Diego will need to adjust to Vargas’s speed, as Vargas has the lowest average speed on his pitches in baseball. The Padres have not been able to hit them this season.
Austin Hedges gets his first start in 5 days and just his third in 11 days. The starter has become the backup as Mejia’s bat has gotten hot since being back from his injury.
The Padres and Phillies start the series finale at 10:05AM PT in the final game between the two teams this season. The Padres will try to get the win and split the season series while the Phillies will be going for the season series win. Watch on Fox Sports San Diego or listen on the Padres radio network, 97.3 The Fan.
