Diamondbacks hope to take advantage of games vs. Padres (Jul 28, 2018)
SAN DIEGO -- Opportunity is knocking for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the form of the San Diego Padres.
Following the Diamondbacks' 6-2 victory over the Padres Friday night, the Diamondbacks have 57 games remaining on the regular season. And 11 of those games are against the National League-worst Padres, including eight at Petco Park.
Arizona has more games to play against the Padres than their three other rivals in the National League West race.
The current division-leading Dodgers have six games remaining against the Padres. Colorado has seven and San Francisco has eight. Thus far, the Padres have losing records against all four of their division rivals. They are 4-9 against the Dodgers, 5-7 against the Rockies and 5-6 against the Giants.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are 5-3 against the Padres, who apparently are losing more ground as the season progresses.
Friday night's loss to the Diamondbacks was the Padres' third straight, fifth in seven games since the All-Star break and 10th in their last 12 games. Since moving to within four games of .500 at 34-38 back on June 15, the Padres have gone 8-26.
So, getting a lot of opportunities against a struggling team like the Padres presents a golden opportunity for the Diamondbacks, who won their first game of the season at Petco Park Friday night. Yes, that's right, eight of Arizona's 11 remaining games with the Padres will be played in San Diego -- another apparent plus for Arizona.
The Diamondbacks are 30-23 on the road this season. The Padres are 18-31 at Petco Park.
The Diamondbacks will attempt to press their seemingly all-around advantage Saturday night when they send left-hander Patrick Corbin (7-4, 3.13 ERA) to the mound in a pairing with Padres right-hander Tyson Ross (6-8, 4.29 ERA).
Add Corbin to the list of Arizona plusses.
Over his last six starts, Corbin has a 2.23 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings. He has a 1.05 WHIP over those six outings and has not allowed a home run. Corbin is also 3-1 in 10 road starts this season with a 2.70 ERA.
But although Corbin defeated the Padres in his only previous outing against San Diego this season (two runs allowed over six innings back on April 22 at Chase Field), he has not had great success over his career against the Padres. In 17 appearances (12 starts) against the Padres, Corbin is 6-7 with a 4.37 ERA, a 1.385 WHIP and a .274 opponents' batting average -- although he does have 87 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings against the Padres.
Ross, meanwhile, will be facing the Diamondbacks for the third time this season. And the first two appearances resulted in his best and worst outings of the season.
On April 20 at Chase Field, Ross no-hit the Diamondbacks for 7 2/3 innings and finished allowing one run on one hit three walks with a season-best 10 strikeouts in those 7 2/3 innings. But on July 7, also at Chase Field, Ross allowed eight runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in two innings -- which was his shortest outing of the season.
In two starts since that game, Ross has given up two runs on eight hits and six walks with 10 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. His victory over Philadelphia last Sunday snapped a personal five-game losing streak.
