Two teams that are taking different approaches during the final week of the regular season will meet Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres attend a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants (78-79) edged the Padres (77-80) in the National League Wild Card chase by one game with a 2-1 triumph from behind in the series opener Monday night.
San Francisco finished the night 4 1/2 games behind the final NL Wild Card spot with five games to play. The best San Diego, 5 1/2 behind, can take the last place at this point. The Padres entered the contest Monday having won nine of their last 10 games.
While the two teams were fighting as if they were opening the playoffs, the Giants started young on Monday with a 24-year-old catcher (Patrick Bailey), a 22-year-old shortstop (Marco Luciano), a 25-year-old player.third baseman (Tyler Fitzgerald), a 21-year-old left fielder (Luis Matos) and
Meanwhile, the Padres fought back with all their big, battle-proven weapons, starting at the front of the lineup with shortstop Xander Bogaerts, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., left fielder Juan Soto and designated hitter Manny Machado.
The San Diego base Four scored a combined seven hits, but it was Luciano’s double that set the stage for Michael conforto’s eighth-inning RBI double that turned a 1-0 Giants deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Luciano increased his batting average to .333 (9 of 33) while collecting his third Major League double in his ninth game. He went 1 for 2 with two walks on Monday.
“That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career,” Luciano said of his high average. “What I like to do in the strike zone is to make good contacts and get good results.”
The rookie will turn his pirouettes against Padres right-hander Seth Lugo(7-7, 3.79era) on Tuesday. The 33-year-old veteran helped lead San Diego’s late-season surge by holding up well in his last seven starts, going 3-1 with a 2.90 era.
The Padres have won five of seven games, including a 4-0 home victory over the Giants on Sept. 3, in which Lugo pitched six shutout innings and allowed three hits. Luciano did not play in this match.
The 33-year-old compiled a 3-2 record with a 2.52 era in 15 head-to-head games of his career, including four starts, against the Giants.
In keeping with the rest of their practice, the Giants will take the youth path to the mound Tuesday when they turn to Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.85ERA).
