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Arizona Diamondbacks vs San Diego Padres MLB (Free Pick)
The deciding contest of three-game series have proved difficult so far this season for the upstart San Diego Padres.
They play another one Sunday afternoon because the Padres host the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park for the ultimate time the shortened 60-game season.
The Padres are 5-0 serial openers this season. Saturday night they fell to 1-4 within the second game of series after a 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. and that they have lost their last two rubber matches, to the Dodgers and Rockies.
"We're doing good at winning the primary games of series," Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. "But to be a winning team, you've got to win series. we've not cashed in our chances."
To win this series, the Padres will need to again beat Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. But the MadBum of 2020 isn't the MadBum who dominated the Padres as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
Bumgarner is 0-2 with a 7.04 ERA in his first three starts with the Diamondbacks. On Sunday, he are going to be matched against Padres' right-hander Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 1.72 ERA). Both starters have already faced the opposite team this season.
Lamet held the Diamondbacks to at least one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts five-plus innings within the season's second game. That was also the sport that Lamet was credited together with his lone win. He has pitched 15 2/3 innings this season, allowing four runs (three earned) on 11 hits and 7 walks with 17 strikeouts. He features a 1.149 WHIP.
When the teams opened the season against one another July 24, Bumgarner gave up three runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings as he lost a much-anticipated matchup against the Padres' Chris Paddack. The Padres worked the count against Bumgarner, forcing him out after 100 pitches.
The Diamondbacks need to worry about Bumgarner's first three starts in his five-season, $85 million deal.
Bumgarner has allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 15 hits and 6 walks against 11 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings for a 1.370 WHIP. he's 119-94 over his 12-year career with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.113 WHIP.
Another concerning stat: Bumgarner features a career 4.16 strikeout-to-walk ratio. This year, that differential has shrunk to 1.83. Walks are up, strikeouts are down.
And velocity is down. His fastball has slipped from around 91 mph last year to 88 mph this year.
"But it isn't the maximum amount velocity as location," Diamondbacks baseball coach Matt Herges said recently. "When the command and site returns, he'll be the Bumgarner we have seen within the past."
That Bumgarner dominated the Padres.
Bumgarner features a 13-11 career record against the Padres with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.034 WHIP in 37 appearances (36 starts). But since the beginning of the 2019 season, Bumgarner is 2-2 against the Padres with a 4.13 ERA.
"I liked the way we got his pitch count up the primary time we faced Bumgarner this season," said Tingler. "The way we were working the count, i feel it frustrated him."