Our Padres offense has seemingly disappeared the last two nights, but hopefully they can find their way to Chase Field this evening in the middle game of the series against the Diamondbacks.
Over two months on the disabled list have Andrew Cashner itching to get back on the mound for the big league club. He'll make his return tonight and hopefully our Padres can get some runs on the board for him. Last night the team dropped to 2-6 on the road trip as the offense struggled to get anything going at the plate. Aside from Yangervis Solarte and Alexi Amarista, who each notched two hits on the night, the offense looked absolutely clueless. This was just one night removed from a game in which Clayton Kershaw once again flirted with a no-hitter and a fantastic outing by Tyson Ross was wasted with the resulting loss.
The Friars have lost seven of the ten games so far in the season series against the Dbacks. That includes three out of four games so far at Chase Field. Though Arizona is six games behind San Diego in the NL West standings and has failed to win consecutive games in two weeks, their track record against us combined with the recent reappearance of Padres offensive ineptitude are discouraging.
But hopefully the return of Cashner to the hill can spark something in the team and they can get back in the win column tonight. A sore throwing shoulder has kept Cashner on the sidelines for much of the season, but after more than two months he's ready to get back in the game with the big league club. In his final rehab start last Monday with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, he gave up three runs on four hits over five innings of work. Because of his shoulder as well as some elbow issues earlier in the season, the Opening Day starter has been limited to just 12 major league outings this year. Prior to being placed on the DL, Cashner went eight straight starts without notching a win. During that stretch he went 0-5 while receiving only nine total runs of support. Tonight will be his seventh career start against Arizona. He has a 2-1 record and 3.56 ERA in his previous six.
Toeing the rubber for the Dbacks will be southpaw and San Diego native, Vidal Nuno, who was acquired from the Yankees in the Brandon McCarthy trade. Nuno is 0-3 with a 3.72 in his eight starts so far as a Diamondback. This will be his first time facing the Friars.
Tune in for Cashner's return to the mound and (hopefully) our Padres' return to the win column tonight at 5:10 PT.
And don't forget to check out today's SB Nation Fantasy Baseball league on FanDuel. It's $2 to join and first prize is $1,000. You can join at this link.