Eric Stults will face off against Tom Koehler in the Padres' first road game of the season.
The first road trip of the season is underway tonight as our Padres kick off a series in Miami. After an opening series loss to the Dodgers at home, the Padres will try to wake up the bats against the Marlins. Eric Stults will make the start as the team tries to put an end to their losing streak. In 2013, Stults was one of the few constants on the team and in the rotation, leading the team in starts (33) as well as wins (11). One of those wins came against the Marlins last May. Stults was brilliant in that outing, keeping Miami to just one run in 6 1/3 frames in San Diego. He didn't fare as well in his start at Marlins Park, surrendering six runs (five earned) in 3 2/3 innings. This Spring, Stults went 3-1 in six starts, giving up 11 runs in 21 innings of work.
Tom Koehler, making the first start of his career against San Diego, will take the mound for Miami. Koehler made 29 appearances (23 starts) in 2013, posting a 4.41 ERA while going 5-10. He convincingly earned himself the fifth rotation spot out of Spring Training, putting up arguably the best Spring on the staff. He started four games, but pitched in five altogether, giving up only three earned runs in 18 innings while collecting 12 strikeouts.
Hopefully our offense can fare better against Koehler than they did against the Dodgers starters. They only managed five six runs in three games against the NL West rivals while some key starters went cold. Jedd Gyorko and Yasmani Grandal are still hitless on the season while Yonder Alonso, Chase Headley, and Chris Denorfia are just a combined 5-for-34.
The Padres and Marlins will get things started at 4:10 this afternoon on FSSD as they try to get back in the win column.