April was, yet again, a frustrating month for Padres and fans. But hopefully an off day and a new month will help the team get on its feet and back into the thick of the NL West race. And a good way to ease back into that race will be in this weekend's series at home against the Diamondbacks, who own the worst record (9-22) and worst starting pitcher ERA (6.29) in the league this season.
Our Padres fell to three games under .500 and 4 1/2 games out of first place after back-to-back losses in San Francisco. Andrew Cashner is also coming off back-to-back losses and will try to get back in the win column tonight in the series opener against Arizona. His two road losses to the Brewers and Nationals have been his worst outings of the year. In each start, he gave up four earned runs in six innings of work. In his four starts to begin the season he had posted a 1.27 ERA. Cashner is 3-0 in seven appearances (five starts) against the Dbacks since joining the Padres in 2011. He won both of his starts against them last year, though he surrendered a combined seven runs.
We just have to hope that the offense can provide some deserved run support, which we all know they've struggled with all season. Tonight they'll face Bronson Arroyo, who's coming off his best start of the year. He kept the Phillies to two runs in 6 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander is just 1-0 on the season, though he's gotten considerably more run support than Cashner. His sole victory of the year came with a seven-run showing by the Arizona offense and on two other occasions he received five runs of support. His first season with the Dbacks hasn't gotten off to a very good start, but he has some recent success against the Padres to build on tonight. In his last five starts against San Diego, he is 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA. Career-wise at Petco Park, he's pitched to the tune of a 2.13 ERA in six appearances, including a couple of complete games. If the Padres continue to struggle at the plate, tonight's outing in San Diego could be a confidence booster to help him start to turn his season around.
See if the Padres can get their May started on a high note tonight as they take the field at 7:10 PDT.