[John]

Houston Astros (F. Paulino) - San Diego Padres (J. Garland)
Spelstopp: 9/5 01.05
Spel: San Diego Padres (J. Garland)
Odds: 1.769 @ Pinnacle
Insats: 5u

Houston Astros 2010:

Totalt: 9W-20L
Hemma: 6W-14L
10 senaste: 1W-9L
Som Underdog: 5W-13L
Runs snitt: 2.76

F. Paulino 2010: ERA 5.53, 27.2 innings, 27 hits, 17 earned runs, 23 strikeouts

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San Diego 2010:

Totalt: 18W-11L
Borta: 7W-6L
10 senaste: 7W-3L
Som Favorit: 9W-1L
Runs snitt: 4.55

J. Garland 2010: ERA 2.06, 35 innings, 28 hits, 8 earned runs, 23 strikeouts

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San Diego är helt enkelt bättre än Houston i år. Med fler antal runs, bättre form och bättre pitcher talar det mesta för att det blir San Diego vinst.

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Probables

Spoiler:

Padres:
Garland walked five over seven scoreless innings in his last start against the Brewers, but allowed three hits, and, as is the case when he's throwing well, got 12 ground-ball outs thanks in large part to his sinker. "You can't discount what the starters have done this entire season," Padres manager Bud Black said. "When Jon's on, you're going to see a lot of grounders." Garland, a free-agent acquisition by first-year general manager Jed Hoyer, has pitched well since two not-so-good outings to open the season in Arizona and Colorado. "It's quality pitches, keeping the ball down and not making mistakes," said Garland, a line he's no doubt used countless times during his 10-year Major League career.

Astros:
Paulino lost his fourth consecutive start on Monday at home against Arizona. He gave up five hits, including a homer, and four earned runs in six innings. He has lasted at least five innings in all five of his starts. He struck out eight D-backs, but has been hurt by walks this season. He has struck out 23 and walked 18 in 27 2/3 innings. He has thrown 106 pitches or more in four of his five games, with a high of 124 vs. Arizona.

Preview

Spoiler:

Heading into the second game of their three-game weekend set, the Padres and Astros have their offensive fortunes heading in opposite directions.
After Friday's 7-0 victory at Minute Maid Park, the Padres have gone 15-5 over their past 20 games, outscoring their opponents, 93-49.

Across the diamond, the momentum is heading the other way. The Astros were shut out on three hits Friday, the fifth shutout in just 29 games and the second in the last four games. The Astros have lost 10 of their last 11 and are hitting .227 as a team with 11 homers in 29 games

"We're caught in a bad situation where you're not getting any kind of breaks at all, everything that's on the ground goes right to somebody," said veteran Lance Berkman. "You can't seem to break through."

The Astros will try again to do that Saturday, this time against veteran right-hander Jon Garland, off to a solid start in his first season with the Padres. Felipe Paulino will take the mound for the Astros.

Scott Hairston, the fourth leadoff man the Padres have tried this year, was the offensive hero Friday with two homers, and he says the Padres have kept things rolling because they're not leaning on just one or two players.

"The depth is very important, having guys who can fill in," Hairston said. "Every good team has a really good bench. It makes it easier for [manager Bud Black] to use everyone."

Padres: Garland heads in hot
Garland enters this outing as one of the hotter starters in the game, having gone 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his past three outings. Garland is 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA in five career starts against the Astros. He is 17 strikeouts shy of 1,000 for his career. ... Chase Headley continued his strong performance batting behind Adrian Gonzalez on Friday, hitting a two-run homer and extending his current hitting streak to four games while hitting safely in 25 of his past 28 games.

Astros: Pence takes another day
Right fielder Hunter Pence didn't have an at-bat Friday, but he got in a lot of swings. Pence was out of the lineup for the second time in five games, instead working with hitting coach Sean Berry prior to the tilt. Pence entered Friday in a 2-for-18 slump and is hitting .210 with two homers and seven RBIs.

"Every day is a day you want to snap out of it," Pence said. "I've been through some similar stretches, and it takes one day where it clicks and all of a sudden you get hot. You feel you can hit everything. When it's not hot, everything's on the corners. It's just baseball, and you've got to continue to be confident and be up there and take aggressive swings, and that's all you can do. I know I'm going to find a way to hit."

Worth noting:
After this weekend, the Astros will have played 22 of their first 31 games of the season at home, the first time since 1944 a team has had that many home games through the first 31 games, according to STATS Inc. After Friday's game, the Astros are 6-14 at Minute Maid Park.