It's been two seasons since Ian Kennedy has beaten the Dodgers. He'll get the chance to end that streak today as our Padres play game 2 against the NL West rivals and try to clinch the series after walking off in last night's 12-inning series opener.
Kennedy is 0-4 with a 5.53 ERA in his last seven starts against L.A., including an 0-2 record and 4.70 ERA through his first four outings against them this year. The most recent of those appearances came on August 19th when he yielded six runs (five earned) on seven hits in five innings of work. He was better his next time out, getting the win against the Diamondbacks. He gave up eight hits and walked three, but only three runs came home in his 5 2/3 innings on the mound, and some timely offense helped him to a victory.
That offense was harder to come by last night, but they did come through in the end to stand victorious in game 1. Hopefully they can come through again for Kennedy tonight, though they haven't been prone to do so. IPK's 3.29 run support average is the 10th lowest in the league.
Zack Greinke's 4.05 run support average has been much more effective, and tonight he looks to extend his streak to 11 undefeated starts against NL West opponents in 2014. Greinke has been much more successful (8-0, 1.79 ERA in ten starts) against the NL West than he has against the rest of the league (5-8, 3.48 ERA in 16 starts) this season. He is also 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA all-time against the Friars. Tonight will be only his second start against them this season. Only one of those starts took place this year, and it was all the way back on April 1st. He kept our Padres to two runs on two hits in five innings of work.
The game gets underway at 6:40 PT, but make sure to tune in early for the pregame ceremony to celebrate Trevor Hoffman's induction into the Padres Hall of Fame.
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 $1,500. You can join at this link.