San Diego Padres (35-36) vs. San Francisco Giants (39-32)
The 2023 MLB season continues Tuesday, June 20, with the San Diego Padres taking on the San Francisco Giants in the NL West showdown at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, and the first pitch is set for 9:45 PM ET.
San Diego and San Francisco lock horns in the second of a four-game series at Oracle Park, and Monday’s opener has been excluded from this preview. Back in April, these two foes met in a two-game set in Mexico City, and the Padres swept the Giants, 16-11 and 6-4.
The San Diego Padres have struggled mightily through the first two months of the season. They turned the corner in June and have won each of their previous three series against the Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Guardians, and Tampa Bay Rays. Last Sunday, the Padres beat Tampa Bay 5-4 to clinch a three-game set at Petco Park in San Diego, finishing a six-game homestand with a 4-2 record.
San Diego has done a good job at the plate of late. The Padres are slashing .266/.346/.463 with 29 extra-base hits and 16 home runs in the last couple of weeks and 395 at-bats. Fernando Tatis Jr. is 16-for-43 with seven doubles, three home runs, and seven RBI in his last 12 games, and Gary Sanchez has homered four times in his previous 41 at-bats while driving 11 runs home.
NANDO SAID NO!!!
Vote Tatis ?? https://t.co/gyd80CEbUT pic.twitter.com/U12U7pUnDK
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 18, 2023
The Padres haven’t announced who’ll toe the slab Tuesday. Manager Bob Melvin said this weekend that Seth Lugo will be activated from the 15-day IL during the Giants series, so I’m expecting the 33-year-old right-hander to get the nod Tuesday. Lugo, who’s been sidelined since May 18, faced hitters in a simulated game this past Thursday and won’t need a rehab assignment. He’s 3-3 with a 4.10 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 38/11 K/BB ratio in eight starts (41.2 innings pitched) this season.