The San Diego Padres (51-41) will host the Arizona Diamondbacks (39-51) on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game series. San Diego is 7-2 straight up against the Diamondbacks coming into this series. Friday's series opener was not underway at the time of this preview.
Heading into Friday, Arizona was last in the NL West and 19.5 games out of first place. Arizona was off on Thursday after dropping two out of three games to the Giants and has now lost six of their last eight games. It will be easy to turn things around, as Arizona has struggled against the Padres this season, averaging only 2.8 runs in the nine head-to-head contests. Overall, the Diamondbacks are 17th scoring 4.3 runs per game on the road this season. Christian Walker (21 HR, 45 RBI) and Daulton Varsho (12 HR, 45 RBI, 5 SB) are leading the way offensively.
Joe Mantiply is headed to Hollywood! Congratulations to Joe on his 1st #AllStarGame nod! pic.twitter.com/PIwgmMWyKp
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 10, 2022
Tyler Gilbert, a 28-year-old left-hander, will make a start on Saturday. In six games this season, he is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA and has allowed seven home runs in just 25 1/3 innings of work. Gilbert pitched 16 total innings over three appearances against San Diego last season and went 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA. Last Sunday, Gilbert tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings at home against Colorado. The Arizona bullpen that will follow Gilbert is 25th with a 4.42 ERA.