News
Padres set to kick off final Bay Area series
San Diego (61-77) at San Francisco (75-62), 1:05 p.m. PT
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
09/06/09 11:55 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Padres make their final trip to San Francisco on Monday for the first of three games against a team they've had success against in 2009 as well as one they were no-hit by on July 10. The Padres are 6-5 against the Giants this season but dropped three consecutive games at AT&T Park from July 9-11, including Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter. Clayton Richard, acquired in the Jake Peavy deal from the White Sox, gets his first look at the Giants. Richard has made seven starts this season and is 4-1 with a 4.50 ERA with the Padres. In his last start against the Nationals, Richard bounced back from a difficult outing in Atlanta -- six runs, nine hits in 2 1/3 innings -- to go 6 2/3 innings with one run allowed on four hits with six strikeouts. "I thought his stuff was not all that different from what we've seen," Padres manager Bud Black said. "But I saw a sharper slider, maybe the best we have seen [from Richard] all season. It neutralized [Adam] Dunn, and he had righties swinging over the top of it." Richard attributed his success to making "quality pitches early in the count" but didn't let his defense go uncredited, like a diving catch by Will Venable and another by Tony Gwynn. "Some of the plays made behind me were amazing," Richard said. "As a pitcher ... you feel that if you throw it over the plate, they're going to make a play." Pitching matchupSD: LHP Clayton Richard (8-4, 4.61 ERA)
Richard has struggled on the road, going 1-1 with a 9.75 ERA. The Padres are 5-2 in the seven starts he's made this season since coming over from the South Siders. SF: RHP Brad Penny (8-8, 5.28 ERA)
Penny succeeded beyond the Giants' wildest dreams in his San Francisco debut, allowing five hits in eight innings during a 4-0 victory at Philadelphia. Penny became only the third San Francisco Giants player to pitch at least eight shutout innings in his first outing for the club, joining Juan Marichal (1960) and Mike Remlinger (1991), who pitched shutouts. Penny is 3-8 with a 5.76 ERA against the Padres and 3-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 starts at AT&T Park. Tidbits
Look for the Padres to add right-handed pitcher Sean Gallagher to their roster on Monday. Gallagher threw one inning for Triple-A Portland on Friday and will work out of the bullpen for the Padres, with no early appearance likely lasting longer than one inning as he keeps building arm strength up after three months of being away with an injury to the patella tendon in his left knee. "He's a guy next year who projects to battle for a spot in our rotation," Black said. ... The Padres have shut down Mat Latos for the season but haven't announced a starting pitcher for when Latos' turn in the rotation comes up on Friday. Black said the team would likely do that in the coming week, though Edward Mujica, a long reliever, is a candidate, as are a handful of Minor League pitchers who the team could add this week after their season ends. Tickets
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• 4 San Diego On radio
• XPRS 1090, XEMO 860 (Español) Up next
• Tuesday: Padres (Kevin Correia, 10-10, 4.29) at Giants (Tim Lincecum, 13-5, 2.34), 7:15 p.m. PT
• Wednesday: Padres (Wade LeBlanc, 1-1, 6.06) at Giants (Barry Zito, 9-11, 3.95), 12:45 p.m. PT
• Thursday: Off-day
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
