Last night started off great.
It was a pitcher’s duel for five innings (and a no-hitter duel for 3 2/3 before a Gavin Sheets miscue). Heading into the eighth inning with the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the San Diego Padres 2-1, it felt like the Friars had a shot.
Adrian Morejon was coming in to pitch and it seemed like San Diego might see Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth. Those hopes were dashed rather quickly.
After a quick first out, Morejon gave up two singles before a soft grounder to Xander
Bogaerts. The shortstop dropped what would have been an inning-ending double play, and the bases became loaded.
What followed was a slaughterhouse, with the Bucs scored five runs on three straight singles before Morejon was finally lifted for Ron Marinaccio. The bleeding stopped there, but the damage was done and San Diego lost the game, 7-1.
Today they’ll face the Pirates in their second straight rubber match. Hopefully they can take the series and end this road trip at .500 before heading home for tomorrow’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies.
Taking the mound
Mitch Keller (PIT) v. Michael King (SD)
Keller has gotten off to a fantastic start in 2026, with only two runs allowed across 12 innings pitched. But, in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, he struggled to limit the walks (4 BBs).
If San Diego can capitalize on those command issues, the Padres will have a shot at getting Keller out of the game early.
King has also been solid in his first two starts. His first start was a vintage five-inning performance in which he limited the Detroit Tigers to one hit.
But he struggled in his last outing, giving up four runs on seven hits against the Boston Red Sox. That was mostly due to one bad inning, so if King can miss bats like he did in his first start, the Friars should be alright.
Batter up!
Facing the righty Keller will allow manager Craig Stammen to use mostly the same lineup as yesterday’s game. That could change somewhat, with Nick Castellanos either replacing Miguel Andujar at DH or Gavin Sheets at first base:
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Nick Castellanos, 1B
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Luis Campusano, C
After yesterday’s lack of hitting against ace Paul Skenes, San Diego will need to turn it around on Keller. They certainly have done that historically, with those who have faced him having a combined .288 batting average against the righty.
Chief among those is Machado who has a .294 average in 17 at-bats.
What to look out for: Merrill is 3-for-6 in his career against Keller. His bat has been relatively cold to start the year so it would be nice to see him breakout today.
Relief corps
Pivetta was quite sharp through five innings (including four one-hit innings) apart from an Oneil Cruz two-run double that ended his night. His five innings allowed San Diego to be relatively lax in its bullpen usage.
The Padres ended up using Bradgley Rodriguez, Wandy Peralta, Morejon, and Marinaccio. Those four covered the remaining three innings well — apart from Morejon’s blowup.
That leaves multi-inning options like Kyle Hart and David Morgan. Behind those two are high-leverage relievers Jeremiah Estrada and closer Mason Miller.
Miller’s been dominant thus far this season, but San Diego has only used him in save situations. If the Friar Faithful hope to see him today, the Padres’ offense will have to bounce back after yesterday’s one-run performance.
