One among baseball’s greatest surprises this season meets one of many sport’s greatest disappointments when the Cincinnati Reds host the San Diego Padres on Friday within the opener of a three-game sequence

The Reds, coming off solely the second 100-loss season of their lengthy historical past, have rebounded in a dramatic approach

The Padres got here into 2023 with a star-packed roster and World Collection expectations, however they’ve flopped

The upstart Reds, on the power of rookies equivalent to Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer and Andrew Abbott and a younger core of stars, enter Friday having received 14 of 17 to bolt seize a share of first place within the Nationwide League Central

Following a 12-game profitable streak, the Reds misplaced three straight. Nonetheless, they rebounded to take the final two video games in Baltimore, together with an 11-7, 10-inning win on Wednesday that secured a sequence victory

TJ Friedl, a third-year middle fielder, belted a two-run homer as a part of a four-run tenth inning that capped a protracted three days in Baltimore. The Reds handled prolonged rain delays within the first two video games and bounced again after falling 10-3 within the opener

“It was an unbelievable sequence with quite a lot of adversity,” Friedl stated. “Rain delay, a few lengthy days and we have been capable of get the sequence win. It was huge after dropping the primary one, coming again and getting two extra.”

Friedl, the membership’s common leadoff hitter, has been one of many key gamers for the Reds of their surge. He leads the workforce in batting common (.320), on-base proportion (.388) and stolen bases (14)

“We will hold going,” Friedl stated. “We will hold doing what we’re doing. Nothing goes to vary on this workforce. Now we have our id. We all know who now we have. Every single day we’ll compete one of the best we will.”

De La Cruz snapped an 0-for-14 slide with two hits on Wednesday.

San Diego enters the Cincinnati sequence having misplaced 5 straight and eight of 10, together with a 5-4 setback on Thursday at Pittsburgh during which the Padres wasted a 4-0 lead. The Padres at the moment are a season-worst seven video games below .500

“It is excruciating for everyone right here,” San Diego supervisor Bob Melvin stated. “At a time once we needs to be taking part in higher and thought we’d be taking part in higher, we’re going the opposite approach. We’re not taking part in good baseball throughout the board.”

The Padres did not get a lot assist towards the Pirates from three of their greatest begins. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 1-for-14 within the sequence, Juan Soto was 1-for-9 and Manny Machado completed 2-for-13, and not one of the three had an RBI

San Diego left-hander Blake Snell stated, “If anybody can flip it round, it is us. We begin placing every little thing collectively as a workforce, and we’ll be the place we need to be. We will discover a solution to do it.”

The Reds will ship right-hander Graham Ashcraft (3-6, 7.17 ERA) to the mound on Friday. He will probably be making his second begin again from a bruised left calf sustained on June 8 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, his fifteenth total this season

Ashcraft confronted the Padres for the primary time in his profession final month, when he gave up one run in six innings throughout Cincinnati’s 2-1 win on Might 2

San Diego will counter with right-hander Seth Lugo (3-4, 4.01 ERA), making his eleventh begin. Lugo is filling in for righty Yu Darvish, who was scratched on Tuesday as a result of an sickness. Supervisor Bob Melvin rescheduled Darvish for Friday, however Darvish had not improved sufficient to make the beginning.

Lugo is 2-1 with a 1.16 ERA in 15 video games (two begins) towards Cincinnati. He beat the Reds on Might 3, when he tossed six innings of one-run ball

–Subject Degree Media