Last week, San Diego Padres annihilated the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. This is not a nuclear weapon in orbit. The priests entered its thick and slammed every giant so that his ancestors felt it. It's like the total humiliation you might be seeing by a division opponent, but like all the Giants and Padres, it would be worse if the Dodgers were involved.
Because the Giants' losers against San Diego were so helpless, Padres finished No. 1 in NL West before a weekend showdown with Shohei Ohtani and some. They entered Los Angeles with their biggest swagger and were immediately swept out of No. 1. They will host the Giants in Petco Park for the next four days and it is possible to repeat this week, with Padres so good about the Giants that they find themselves facing the Dodgers again this weekend.
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Unless the giants make them really nervous.
Look, the Giants’ big win yesterday should not be seen as the pivot of the season. This is just their eighth home win in 30 games (just two months). They only have 2-13 out of the last two homes. But the Giants' composition makes one side of any baseball team sting. They aren't theoretically as bad as the White Sox, Nationals and Rockies, even if they're so bad or worse than those. And, as a Padres divisional competitor, you want to think they will start participating in a dent that can make San Diego confident.
Their brief time on NL West was their first ranking at the end of the season since 2010, with the Giants winning the game in September to win the division and continue to win the World Series. Of course, there are no Padres at the moment, but they only know that their competition is the Dodgers and they can never beat them.
Padres won the last four seasons of the series against the Giants, including already 7-2 this season. Now, I'm not suggesting that the giants have the ability sweep Padres (so last year's 7-6 season series support for San Diego), but if they break up or win the series, that only makes Padres harder to make them compete for the Dodgers for the title. Lost two games to the team you just smashed? That will make any team question its performance.
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Several quirks in the series didn’t exist last week. Jackson Merrill suffered a left ankle strain, which could lead him to miss the first game of the game. He had a home run and a doubles match of 13-1 at Oracle Park. He was injured in the first game of the Dodgers Series (after 2-4 in the doubles), while the rest was 0-3. Although Padres will (probably) start two left-handeds: Nestor Cortes in Game 1, possibly former sports JP Sears on Wednesday or Thursday – the Giants put Christian Koss and Tyler Fitzgerald on the roster this week. Now, these guys aren't game-changers, but they both offer different dimensions on the plates that other teams need respect: power in the case of Fitzgerald, in the case of Koss.
Not that the Giants have crossed the hump of left-handed pitching, but the confidence has gone a long way, and if Coase can hit a few shots into the opposite territory, which would make a big difference before Ramos, Adams and Devers. On top of that, Jung Hoo Lee was very hot all month. He has scored .339/.373/.518 from 6 strikeouts since August 1 (59 PA). He hit .270 against lefties this season.
Series Overview
World Health Organization: San Diego Padres' San Francisco Giant
Where: PETCO Park | San Diego, California
when: Thursday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:40 pm Thursday, Thursday at 1:10 pm pt
National Broadcast: MLB Network Simuls Simuls for Out Market Giuester (Tuesday and Wednesday)
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Expected beginners
on Monday: Robbie Ray (LHP 9-6, 2.98 ERA) vs. Nestor Cortes (LHP 1-1, 5.71 ERA)
Tuesday: Kai-Wei Teng (RHP 1-2, 9.90 ERA) vs. Nick Pivetta (RHP 12-4, 2.87 ERA)
Wednesday: Landen Roupp (RHP 7-6, 3.45 ERA) vs. TBD
Thursday: Justin Verlander (RHP 1-9, 4.23 ERA) vs. TBD
Where are they standing
Giants: 60-64, third in the NL West; 6.0 GB wildcard, 11.0 GB NLW
Padres: 69-55, second in the NL West; current WC#2, 2.0 GB NLW
Predicted time
If you're a Padres fan, it's almost certainly going to be a walk in the park. Easy 3-1 series champion or very simple scan. If you're a Padres player, you might be thinking, “I know I should play one game at a time and never underestimate my opponent, but these guys haven't beat us in four years and just last week we made them all look like stinky little leaguers,” which could cut off. “Assuming victory is guaranteed, they can try less. But Manny Machado has no assumptions, he never takes his opponent for granted. I think he likes to be an invader.
I prefer to predict that the Giants at least separate the series and confuse Padres – “Are we a good team?” “Can we beat the Dodgers? We can't even beat the Giants – at home!” This season isn't over, and they should be very hard at keeping their lives until the Giants plan their offseason holidays and face the Padres and Dodgers at least this week. They are not better than any team, but they can certainly make both teams question how good it is them yes. As the great Maria Bamford reminds us: “If you survive without another reason, do it for disgust.”