After a 9-2 loss to open the series, the Padres will try to bounce back and take game 2 tonight. Andrew Cashner will make the start coming off a solid outing, but no-decision, against the Cubs. He gave up just two hits in seven innings, throwing 78 out of 108 pitches for strikes. He has a lifetime 0-1 record in 20 innings pitched against the Dodgers, including an outing against tonight's Dodgers starter, Chris Capuano, back in June. Cashner pitched one of his best games that night, giving up just one run in eight innings of work, but got a no-decision for his effort thanks to a lack of run support, something that has plagued him even moreso recently.
The right-hander started the second half of the season with three straight winning decisions, but since then he's lost three straight. Much of this is due to a struggling Padres offense that has failed to put runs on the board when he's taken the mound. Over his last four starts, Cashner has posted a 2.42 ERA, but has only received a combined three runs of support. In that two-hit start against the Cubs his last time out, he got no run support at all. Hopefully, though, they'll be able to put some runs together against Capuano, who hasn't been too sharp lately.
Like his Padres counterpart tonight, Capuano is winless (0-1) in his last starts. Where he differs from Cashner is his 6.98 ERA and failure to pitch into the 6th inning in each of his starts during that stretch. The lefty gave up three runs on six hits his last time out, against the Red Sox, and was pulled after five innings. He is 5-5 all-time versus San Diego and 0-1 in his last four outings (two of which were starts) against them. He did, however, look great in that June start opposite Cashner. He got a no-decision, but tossed five scoreless innings, working on three days' rest, against the Padres at Petco Park. That was a huge improvement over his other start against the Padres this season. In a home start against them back in April he gave up five runs, all earned, and was pulled after just two innings.
The Dodgers offense had no trouble scoring off Padres pitching last night, and they'll look to continue that tonight. Once again, Adrian Gonzalez was a menace to his former team, hitting two homers and driving in four of L.A.'s nine runs last night. He's batted .354 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 20 games against the Padres. He has been even better at home, where he's it .405 with 10 RBI in half of those games. Rookie Yasiel Puig has also played well against the Padres this season. In eight games versus San Diego, Puig has hit three homers and driven in seven runs while batting .394. Gonzalez is 2-for-7 and Puig is 1-for-3 all-time against Cashner.
Tune in at 6:10 tonight to see if the Padres can even up the series at Chavez Ravine.