Our Padres look to salvage a win as they close out their series against the Pirates this afternoon and try to put an end to Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak.
Ian Kennedy gets the start for San Diego and he hopes the Padres offense will provide him a little more support than his fellow pitchers have gotten lately. During their current three-game losing streak they've combined for just five runs while hitting .122 and striking out 31 times. Fortunately Kennedy has been quite effective lately. Over his last two starts, he's kept opponent to only two earned runs on six hits while compiling 15 strikeouts in 12 innings of work.
He will be facing Francisco Liriano in today's series finale. Liriano is coming off his first victory of the season after going winless in his first 11 starts. Last Friday he pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out eight batters. In five road starts, Liriano has posted a 2.70 ERA, but he has only received five runs of support in those outings. He pitched his only career game at Petco Park last August, earning the win by throwing seven scoreless frames and collecting 13 strikeouts.
Tune in at 3:40 PDT this afternoon to see if our Padres can avoid the sweep and go into their off day tomorrow with a win.