This Wednesday the (64-56) Cleveland Guardians and the (68-56) San Diego Padres will play their final game of this short two-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 4:10 PM EST inside Petco Park. This is also the second series between these two teams this regular season. The first time they matched up, they both won a game, as they split that series 1-1.
The Cleveland Guardians are coming into this one after splitting their last series with the Chicago White Sox. The third and final game of that series was postponed due to rain. The Guardians looked great in game one but struggled at the plate in game two. They were shut out by the White Sox, as they will need to get their bats going if they want to challenge the Padres on the road.
The San Diego Padres are entering this one after splitting their four-game series with the Washington Nationals. The Padre's bats have been ice cold o ver the past two weeks, as they only scored eight combined runs in their last series.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Cleveland Guardians are 6-4 in their last 10 games played, as their strong play has allowed them to take the third and final AL Playoff spot. They are currently leading their division by 2.0 games, as the Minnesota Twins are doing everything they can to catch them. Cleveland will need to stay hot, as if they don't win their division it will be very difficult to snag a Wild Card spot. At the plate, the Guardians are scoring 4.41 runs per game and they are hitting .252 as a team. This is the 16th most runs scored per game and the eighth highest team batting average, as the Guardians have been consistently reaching base all season. They have struggled to drive in men when they are in scoring position, though. They will need to stop stranding base runners if they want to take care of business the rest of the regular season. Especially because the Guardians don't have as much power inside their lineup as they originally thought. They are only hitting .79 bombs per game, which is the second lowest average in the MLB. It takes a lot for them to score, as they rarely clear the bases with a moonshot over the outfield walls. They have also already stolen 80 bases this season, which is the fifth most in the league.
According to MLB.com, the Guardians will start Cal Quantrill on the mound. He is currently 9-5 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In his last start, he pitched for 6.0 innings and allowed four earned runs. His team has also won five straight games when he starts on the mound, as he has been giving his team a great chance of winning every time he steps onto the field. He has struggled on the road, though. He is 3-5 with a 4.34 ERA outside of his home ballpark. The Cleveland bullpen has looked solid over the past few weeks, as well. They have a 3.30 ERA, which is the sixth least amount of runs given up per game.