Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres Preview

After dropping the previous series to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cincinnati Reds will travel to Petco Park to play the fourth-place San Diego Padres (52-60) for a three-game series. This will mark the second time the Reds have met the Padres this year. The two teams met in June, where the Reds dropped the series two games to one. Since then, the Padres have had a less than stellar season and surprised many at the trade deadline when general manager A.J. Preller decided not to move any of their high-priced talent (Matt Kemp, Justin Upton Craig Kimbrel, etc.) and instead chose to try making a late run for the playoffs. As of yet, the move does not seem to have worked, and the Padres have only won three of their last 10 games, are 2-7 in the month of August and have lost six straight games.

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Game 1
8/10/15 10:10 p.m. EST
CIN: David Holmberg (1-0, 3.27)
SD: Ian Kennedy (6-10, 4.49)

Holmberg will get the start for the Reds in game one and will make his third start for the Reds this year. Holmberg pitched well in both of his outings and only gave up two runs in each start. Padres hitters have traditionally hit well off Holmberg, though the sample size is very small, and have a .500/.636/.500 slash line against him. Kennedy, who gets the start for the Padres, has not had a great year and has a 6-10 record with a 4.49 ERA. Kennedy has not pitched well against Reds hitters in the past, with the Reds collecting 42 hits in 137 at-bats against Kennedy, with four home runs and 19 RBIs. Joey Votto, Skip Schumaker, Brayan Pena and Todd Frazier all have batting averages north of .300 against Kennedy, while Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce have traditionally struggled.

Game 2
8/11/15 10:10 p.m. EST
CIN: Michael Lorenzen (3-7, 4.84)
SD: Colin Rea (0-0, -.–)

Rea will make his major league debut with the Padres on Tuesday night after going 5-4 in Double-A and Triple-A this year with a 1.95 ERA. Lorenzen will take the mound for the Reds and has had a rough last few starts, not earning a win since June 21st. Since that win, Lorenzen has had five losses, two no-decisions and three consecutive losses. Lorenzen has one career start against the Padres, where he earned a no-decision in a 9-7 Reds loss in June. Padres batters have six hits in 21 at-bats (.286) against Lorenzen, with Kemp finding the most success, going 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBIs.

Game 3
8/12/15 3:40 p.m. EST
CIN: Raisel Iglesias (2-4, 4.73)
SD: James Shields (8-4, 3.75)

Iglesias is coming off of one of his strongest starts of the year, a losing effort to the Diamondbacks where he went six innings, allowed one run and struck out six. Iglesias will make his first career start against the Padres on Wednesday. Shields will pitch for the Padres and will make just the second start of his career against the Reds (the first came in June of 2011). Shields has pitched well against most of the Reds’ hitters, and hasn’t given up a hit to Eugenio Suarez, Phillips or Bruce. Votto has hit well off Shields, going 2-for-3, but Pena has consistently found the most success against Shields, with five hits in 13 at-bats and 2 RBIs.

Next: Todd Frazier's woes at the plate continue

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