After a depressing series finale on Wednesday, our Padres hope to get back in the win column tonight when they welcome the Marlins to Petco Park for the first of a four-game set.
Ian Kennedy makes his eighth start of the year tonight and looks to keep steady as he has all season. Arguably the most consistent starter in the Padres rotation, Kennedy has pitched much better than his 2-4 record would indicate. He's averaged six innings per start while posting a modest 3.43 ERA. His last time out he gave up a season-high 11 hits and three earned runs in five innings of work. The righty has had some recent success against the Marlins, giving up just one run in each of his last two outings against them, spanning 12 1/3 innings. That includes a six-inning effort in Miami last month, when he kept the Marlins to just three hits en route to a 4-2 victory, which ended the Padres' five-game losing streak against the NL East team.
Kennedy will be competing with Jacob Turner, who will make just his third appearance of the year after suffering a strained right shoulder in April. The right-hander's return to the mound last Saturday wasn't a successful one, however, as he coughed up six runs on nine hits through four innings at home against the Dodgers. But his last outing against the Padres might boost his confidence. He came out victorious against them last June after throwing a seven-hit one-run complete game (the first of his career). He's facing a San Diego team that is battling some major offensive issues as well, so he'll try to keep that trend going tonight.
Tune in at 7:10 PDT to see if the Padres can muster some run support and avoid extending their losing streak to three games.