The Padres, coming off a 3-3 road trip in Philadelphia and Cincinnati, welcome in the Boston Red Sox to Petco Park Friday night for the first of a 3-game set. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are entering an 8-game road trip after playing a 12-minute tenth inning Thursday afternoon.
The Sheriff (Chris Paddack) will make his fourth career inter-league start against Boston. Paddack has struggled lately as he continues to set a career high in innings pitched with every out he makes. His professional record heading into the season was 90 innings, accomplished last year in Single-A Advanced/Double-A. The 23-year-old right-hander has thrown 115 innings already this season. His limit is likely set at 150 innings in the last 5 weeks.
For the struggling team from Boston, southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start. In the past two months, Rodriguez lowered his earned run average from 4.87 to where it currently stands at 4.10. The Venezuela-native has been inconsistent as of late, harboring hits allowed of 4-10 in the month of August and averaging 7 hits per game in that span. Rodriguez has a below-average fastball and the Padres will try to do some damage on that.
| Friday, August 23, 2019 7:10 PM PDT |
|---|
| Petco Park - San Diego, CA |
| Boston Red Sox | ||
|---|---|---|
| RHP Cal Quantrill | ||
| 6-3, 3.23 ERA | ||
| CF | Betts | .283 |
| 3B | Devers | .329 |
| SS | Bogaerts | .306 |
| RF | Martinez | .308 |
| LF | Benintendi | .283 |
| C | Vasquez | .285 |
| 1B | Moreland | .244 |
| 2B | Holt | .319 |
| P | Rodriguez | .000 |
| San Diego Padres | ||
| RHP Chris Paddack | ||
| 8-6, 2.98 ERA | ||
| CF | Margot | .241 |
| C | Mejia | .272 |
| 3B | Machado | .266 |
| RF | Renfroe | .231 |
| 1B | Hosmer | .285 |
| LF | Myers | .228 |
| 2B | France | .219 |
| SS | Urias | .196 |
| P | Paddack | .091 |
Manuel Margot, who the Padres received in the Craig Kimbrel trade with Boston, Will face his former organization for the first time in the big leagues as he leads off at center field. Margot has a cold bat lately, only hitting .125/.222/.125 in his last 7 games. He’ll try to get hot and lead the Padres to a win Friday night.
Manny Machado, coming off 2 days of rest, will return to third base. He was also in a cold streak, batting .200/.262/.233 in the last 15 games. Machado has been his average self (maybe a bit below average) against Boston. He hits .277/.321/.475 in 95 games in his career. The former AL East player saw a lot of them and has had a few mishaps against them as well.
After winning the 2018 regular season and World Series MVP, Mookie Betts is having an average season compared to his career. The star outfielder is batting .283/.388/.501 through 127 games. Betts is just 3-for-13 against the Padres in 3 games during his career.
First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PT in downtown San Diego at Petco Park. The game is on Fox Sports San Diego and 97.3 The Fan.
