The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres hook up for their second series in two weeks, this time in San Francisco as both teams look to pick up a win on Saturday.
San Diego Padres (-110, 8) vs. San Francisco Giants
For the Padres, starting pitcher Michael King was one of the key pieces they acquired when they traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees.
While King dazzled with a 1.88 ERA and 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings after being elevated from the Yankees bullpen to a starting role for his final eight appearances in 2023, the question becomes whether or not that sample size is sustainable.
In his first start as a member of the Padres on March 31, King allowed two runs in four innings, but issued seven walks in four innings.
King will need better command on Saturday against a Giants lineup that is very different from 2023 with the team signing Korean Baseball Organization star Jung Hoo Lee along with Matt Chapman of the Toronto Blue Jays and Jorge Soler of the Miami Marlins, a pair of players with at least one season of more than 35 home runs to their credit.
After scoring the fewest post All-Star Break runs of any National League team in 2023, the Giants entered Friday’s series opener 12th in the league with over 5.1 runs per game with every game being played on the road and will look to Keaton Winn for a good start on the mound.
Since being called up from the minor leagues last season, Winn has a 4.75 career ERA in 10 appearances for the Giants, but a fielding independent of 4.06 with just 1.1 home runs and 1.7 walks per nine innings.
While the Padres offense entered the series averaging 5.8 runs per game, the offense has been all or nothing to begin the season with three runs or fewer generated in four of their previous six games entering this series.
With the Padres no longer having Josh Hader to close out games and the bullpen entering Friday 25th in the league with a 6.34 ERA, the Giants will get a win on Saturday.
The Play: Giants -105
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