The San Diego Padres had won 8 straight before losing the final two games of a three-game series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres are in second place in the National League West four games behind the Dodgers. San Diego leads the third place San Francisco Giants by 6 games and is comfortably in a position to play in the postseason
The Seattle Mariners have lost three straight following a run of three consecutive victories and the Mariners are now 22-28 and 9 games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics in the American League West, Seattle must turn things around quickly if they hope to land one of the 8 spots in the American League playoffs.
Manny Machado coming on strong for San Diego
Third baseman Manny Machado is now leading San Diego with a .314 batting average, has a team-high 41 runs batted in and is one behind the lead in home runs with 14 trailing just the 15 hit by Fernando Tatis Jr. As a team, San Diego is averaging .263 at the plate which is sixth best in baseball and the Padres .481 slugging percentage is first in all of baseball. The Padres have scored 286 runs this season which is tied for second.
On the mound, San Diego has also fared well, as the Padres are 7th best team ERA at 3.88, have the third-best WHIP at 1.21 and are 11th in batting averages against at .237. Zach Davies leads San Diego in victories with seven, while Dinelson Lamet has a team-high 79 strikeouts and is leading in ERA at 2.12. Recently acquired Mike Clevienger will start for San Diego on the mound. The right-hander this season is 3-2 with a 3.10 ERA and the Padres have won two of the three games Clevinger has pitched since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians.
Bats are failing the Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have suffered at the plate all season evidenced by having the 24th worst team batting average of .230 and the 25th worst slugging percentage of .380. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Mariners have scored just 215 runs which is 22nd in baseball. The leading hitter for Seattle is right fielder Kyle Lewis who is averaging .291 at the plate and also has the team lead in home runs with 10. Kyle Seager has a team-high 33 runs batted in but the third baseman is averaging just .246 at the plate.
On the mound, Seattle starting pitcher Marco Gonzales is leading Seattle with six wins, 53 strikeouts and a 3.49 ERA. The Mariners however have a team ERA of 5.40 which is 27th in baseball and a team WHIP of 1.37 which is 18th. Opposing hitters are averaging .245 at the plate against Mariners pitching which is 18th in baseball. The starting rotation has pitched well with 21 Quality Starts which is fifth in baseball. Starting on the hill for Seattle on Saturday will be Justus Sheffield, who is 3-3 with a 4.06 ERA and 42 strikeouts.The Mariners have won three of the left-hander's last four starts.
Notable Trends
- Seattle has lost five of the last seven interleague games
- The Mariners have lost 19 of the last 26 against teams from the National League West
- San Diego has won 21 of the last 28
- The Padres have won 12 of the last 16 interleague games
