Game: Los Angeles Angels @ San Diego Padres
Time: 9:40 p.m.
Odds: Angels +152, Padres -180
Total: 8
In the 18 seasons since Phil Nevin remarked that “hitting a home run in San Diego is like hitting one out of a national park,” the distances to the Petco Park fences have decreased. Nevin, who is currently the manager of the Los Angeles Angels and who is still third all-time in home runs for the Padres, will visit Petco Park tonight with two players who will threaten those distances tonight.
Over the past three days, Shohei Ohtani hit home runs of 493 feet and 454 feet, giving him a season total of 31 home runs. That number leads the majors. Additionally, Mike Trout hit his 18th home run of the year on Sunday, a 436-foot bomb, as part of a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Ohtani and Trout will both start in the upcoming MLB All-Star Game. Ohtani will pitch against San Diego on Tuesday. Interestingly, the Padres are a team that may be in the running for Ohtani when he becomes a free agent after this season.
The Padres are about 15 wins below where they anticipated to be at the halfway point of the season.
San Diego has lost five straight to Washington and Pittsburgh and they just finished a road trip where they went 1-5.
Ten days ago, the Padres believed they were close to beginning a winning streak that would lift them above .500. Instead, they have gone 1-7 to fall eight games below .500. One of those losses required extra innings, and two were by one run. The Padres are 0-7 in extra-inning games this season and 5-15 in one-run games. The Padres suffered their eighth loss in 12 three-game series rubber matches following their 4-3 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday.
Right-hander Jaime Barria (2-3, 2.92 ERA) will start the game for the Los Angeles Angels against anticipated Padres starter Blake Snell (4-7, 3.21).
Snell’s track record is deceiving. The left-hander has a 0.86 ERA and 0.833 WHIP in his last seven starts. He has allowed four runs on 20 hits, allowed 15 walks, has 66 strikeouts in 42 innings, and hasn’t given up a run in four of those last seven starts.
The Padres are only 4-3 in those contests because they couldn’t offer Snell much run support. Snell has a 1-2 career record against the Angels, a 3.52 ERA, a 1.087 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 23 innings over four starts.
On Monday, Barria will make his 18th season appearance, but only his sixth start. In two prior appearances (both starts), the 26-year-old Panamanian is 1-0 against the Padres, surrendering three runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out seven batters over nine innings. His last seven appearances have included five starts. As a starter, he has a record of 1-1, a 4.43 ERA, and a 1.34 WHIP.
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