Last night was hard to watch.
Not only because the San Francisco Giants slugged their way to a, 9-3, win against the San Diego Padres.
Not only because Nick Castellanos was tough to watch in left field.
The Friars lost this game in a way they haven’t lost since Opening Day: their pitching.
In what felt like a must-win game for the Padres, starter Germán Márquez allowed four runs and reliever Kyle Hart allowed another four (despite looking sharp for a while). San Diego didn’t stand much of a chance.
It
felt like they kept getting extremely unlucky. Whether by some incredible defensive play or a strangely batted ball, it was a tough night in Petco Park.
The Friars have still yet to score more than three runs in a game, and are now on the verge (yet again) of being swept.
Taking the mound
Adrian Houser (SF) v. Nick Pivetta (SD)
The Padres’ Opening Day starter had a rough go of it last week, allowing six runs in only three innings pitched against the Detroit Tigers.
Pivetta struggled to get out of the first inning, giving up four of those six runs after failing to locate his pitches in the strike zone.
He was a workhorse for San Diego last year (and a legitimate ace to boot), and the club needs him to be that again.
There’s a lot riding on this outing for the Friars’ ace. If Pivetta can stifle San Francisco’s lineup, it will go a long way toward forgetting the concerns of Opening Day.
Houser will be making his Giants debut after signing a two-year, $22 million deal with the club this offseason. He was signed by San Francisco to help round out the rotation behind Webb and Robbie Ray.
Houser put up a solid year in 2025 (3.31 ERA), but struggled down the stretch (4.79 ERA, 56.1 IP) after being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.
He’s a solid righty starter but should be easy enough for San Diego to rack up some hits against… hopefully.
Batter up!
San Diego rolled out a similar lineup to how they ended Monday night’s game. Freddy Fermin catching, Miguel Andujar at DH.
The only — slightly strange — difference was Castellanos in left field over the red-hot bat of Ramón Laureano, though that’s likely to not happen too often.
Against a right-hander like Houser, manager Craig Stammen will likely construct something similar to Monday’s outing against Roupp. But after Jake Cronenworth’s struggles at the plate he may be bumped down in the order:
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Nick Castellanos, 1B
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Luis Campusano, C
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Cronenworth batted ninth in the order on Opening Day, so he could return to that spot. Since his debut game in the leadoff spot he has yet to record a hit.
Sheets has seen a lot of time at the cold corner lately (and has been pretty good so far), but he deserves a day off and Castellanos could offer him that today.
Relief corps
Kyle Hart pitched two innings quite well in relief before blowing the game open for San Francisco in the sixth inning. Bradgley Rodriguez came in and gave up a hit but locked it down for an inning and two-thirds.
Jeremiah Estrada pitched a great inning, redeeming himself a bit after his rough outing against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
David Morgan allowed his first run of the season, but it was unearned and inconsequential with the Padres already down five runs when he came out for the ninth inning.
That leaves two of the high leverage guys in the ‘pen for San Diego. Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller have been used sparingly thus far, and will likely emerge tomorrow if the Friars can (finally) get a lead.
Behind them are the ever-serviceable Wandy Peralta and Ron Marinaccio. They’ll be middle-innings choices for the Padres should Pivetta stumble early.
