Game Notes @ SF (06.25) Happy Flight, Series Victory await Shields if Successful in Finale
By Friar Wire
Despite being on the wrong end of a 6–0 loss on Wednesday, the Friars are probably entering the game with a little more optimism on Thursday as they get ready to close out their eight-game road trip before heading home to San Diego. Given the team’s positive record on “getaway” days, the Padres (35–39) have a legitimate chance at taking the series from the Giants (39–34) and ending their trip on a high note and even road record.
Heading to the hill for the Padres will be ace RHP James Shields (7–1, 3.75 ERA), who will face off against RHP Chris Heston (7–5, 3.83 ERA). Shields, who has thrived as the starter in the various series finales he has played in over his career, hopes to improve to 8–1 while also clinching a series victory and happy flight for San Diego.
To get you ready for Thursday’s series finale, here’s a look at some highlights from today’s game notes:
- With a Win Today — With a victory this afternoon, the Padres would secure their fourth road series of the season and their first road series win against a National League West division opponent this year (the Padres have gone 0–4–2 in their series against NL West opponents this season). If the Padres are successful in taking the series finale and thus the three-game set against the Giants this afternoon, it would be the second series victory over the Giants of the season in three such meetings. The Padres also won their opening series against San Francisco at Petco Park, having taken three out of the four games that the Friars played against the Giants. Overall this season, the Padres have a slight 5–4 edge over the Giants and stand only 4.5 games back of San Francisco in the division.
- Mr. Alons-Road — After collecting yet another base knock and going 1-for-3 with a walk on the road last night, Yonder Alonso is now hitting a .382/.481/.472 line with five doubles, one home run and 13 RBI in 26 road games this season, giving him the second-best batting average and on-base percentage of any Major Leaguer with at least 100 plate appearances on the road this season. Alonso has also reached base safely in 10 consecutive starts on the road since June 8th, hitting .324 in that time. Dating back to July 26th of last season, Alonso has reached base safely in 29 of his last 30 starts on the road, posting a .410 average in that time. Alonso’s line this season, regardless of location, sits at .321/.412/.415 — giving him the seventh-best batting average and fifth-best on-base percentage of any National League player with at least 175 plate appearances.
- All About that Base — Outfielder Justin Upton has reached base safely in all nine games against the Giants this season, posting a .313/.425/.406 line with three doubles, two RBI and seven walks. Dating back to May 13th of last season when Upton was with the Braves, Upton has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games against San Francisco, hitting .282/.396/.359 in that time. Upton also collected his 15th stolen base of the season against the Giants last night, having gone a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts this year.
- Wiki-Wiki Wild, Wild, West — Entering play today, the Padres have gone 19–19 against National League West opponents this season. The Friars will play their next four games against NL West opponents with the series finale today and then the first three games of the next homestand coming against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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