Giants looking to crash playoff party vs. Padres
With two games to go in the regular season, the San Francisco Giants are trying to get into to the playoffs. The San Diego Padres are trying to get to the playoffs alive. The National League West rivals suffered different types of losses Friday night during a doubleheader split. The Giants (29-29) were two outs away from a doubleheader sweep in San Francisco and a chance to grab the inside track in the five-way race for the final two berths in the eight-team National League playoffs. Then Sam Coonrod served up a three-run, walk-off homer to the Padres' Trent Grisham that dropped them back into the pack. The Padres were serving as the home team because it was a makeup game from a postponement in San Diego when someone in the Giants' organization tested positive for the coronavirus. Truth is, if the Giants win out -- their 31-29 record would likely get them into the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Padres (35-23) secured the No. 4 seed and the home field for the three-game, wild-card round of the playoffs that open next Wednesday. But their losses are coming via injuries. Earlier Friday brought some good news Friday. The pain that forced Mike Clevinger to leave Wednesday's start after one inning was diagnosed as an impingement behind his right elbow. Clevinger received a cortisone injection Friday. He will throw Sunday and could be ready to see action in the first round. Then, however, Dinelson Lamet walk off the mound with two out in the fourth inning of Friday night's second game with tightness in his biceps. Clevinger and Lamet had been projected to start the first two games of the playoffs Wednesday and Thursday in San Diego. "We've got some reason for optimism," Padres manager Jayce Tingler said late Friday after the split with the Giants. "Lamet doesn't look that serious, he's actually feeling good right now. And the news on Clevinger is as good as we can hope it to be." The Padres' projected third starter in the playoffs is Zach Davies, who will start for the Padres on Saturday night against the Giants' Johnny Cueto. Davies is 7-4 with a 2.85 earned run average, a 1.07 WHIP and a .214 opponents' batting average in 11 starts. Cueto is 2-2 with a 5.53 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP in 11 starts. Davies has given up 26 runs (21 earned) on 52 hits and 19 walks with 60 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. He has averaged six innings per start. He will be facing the Giants for the second time this season. On July 28, Davies held the Giants to three runs (two earned) on five hits and no walks in five innings of the Padres' 5-3 win. In five starts in his career against San Francisco, he is 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA. Cueto is 0-1 in two previous starts against the Padres this season. In 8 2/3 innings, Cueto has given up 10 runs (eight earned) to the Padres on 11 hits and six walks with six strikeouts. Manny Machado has the Padres' only homer against Cueto. In 17 career starts against San Diego, Cueto is 8-5 with a 3.68 ERA. He has 106 strikeouts in 110 innings pitched. Cueto has worked 57 innings this season, giving up 38 runs (35 earned) on 56 hits and 25 walks with 52 strikeouts. "These are big games," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. "If you reach the playoffs, anything can happen. But if you don't reach the playoffs, you'll never know." --Field Level Media |