The Padres dropped the first game of this crucial four-game set and will now look to hold onto their divisional lead at Petco Park.
San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres
San Francisco moved within a game of the San Diego Padres after a 7-3 win in Thursday’s opener at Petco Park. The Giants have a 3-9 record against the Padres this season, including a 2-4 mark at tonight’s venue. “We’ve had some bad times against these guys, so winning the first one is big for us,” said last night’s starter Matt Cain. Offensively, the team blasted four home runs in the spacious park, marking the first time in 61 games that San Francisco accomplished that feat. With their seventh win in nine games, the Giants also moved within a game of Wild Card pacesetter Atlanta. “They’re all important games…you just don’t want to put ‘do or die’ in any game,” manager Bruce Bochy stated. The club is now 37-36 on the road this season (+300) and the total is 39-33 O/U in those contests.
San Francisco enters this weekend series following a 3-1 loss in Arizona on Wednesday, ending a four-game winning streak and dropping the club two back in the Wild Card race. “We weren’t under the allusion that we were going to win the rest of the games,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “There’s some baseball left here.” Over the last nine games, the starting rotation has posted a 2.54 ERA and seven quality starts. The Giants have 22 games left on their schedule and are 36-37 on the road this season (+100). After beginning the year with a 8-19 record against the NL West, the team has bounced back nicely to pick up victories in 19 of its last 29 divisional contests. San Francisco is an even 12-12 as a road underdog of +100 to +125 (+130) and the total is 11-13 O/U in those games.
Tampa Bay’s impressive 14-5 victory over the Red Sox on Tuesday pushed their lead in the Wild Card race to 7 1/2 games. Also by winning, the Rays snapped a three-game losing streak while picking up a game on the Yankees, moving them within 1 1/2 games of the American League East leaders. “Winning beats losing,” said manager Joe Maddon. The offense was led by outfielder Carl Crawford’s career-high three doubles, as he compiled his Major League-leading eighth four-hit game of the season. It’s important to note that with yesterday’s win, the club has not tied last year’s win total and the team is 265-197 since the start of the 2008 season. Tampa Bay is 35-23 against division opponents (+610) and the total is 31-26 O/U in those contests. The team will be playing its 15th game as a road underdog of +100 to +125, posting a 6-8 record in the previous 14 instances (-140).
Florida gained a split in the Labor Day doubleheader and has actually gone 5-5 over its last 10 games. The Marlins earned a 7-1 victory in the first game to improve their record to four games over .500 for the first time this year, only to drop the second game and fall to 70-67 at the end of the night. “It’s a long shot, but we’re going to keep playing hard,” Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said about the team’s playoff chances. The club is 4-3 in Philadelphia this season, but is trailing the season series 5-8 overall and own a all-time record of 131-149 against the Phillies. Florida has a solid 32-28 mark against divisional foes this season (+360) and the total is 32-25 O/U in those contests.
