+Bullpen has been MLB-best over the last six weeks
+King quietly dominant since July
−Lost the series opener to Pittsburgh
−Three rotation starters already on the 60-day IL
−Mize still day-to-day with a sprained ankle
First pitch at Petco Park is 6:40 PM PT, and the pitching matchup pairs two arms trending in opposite directions. Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.95 ERA) is still the most talented arm on the mound tonight, but his fastball has slipped from averaging 98.1 mph a year ago to 96.8 mph this season, and he hasn't touched 100 mph once — a big reason he's already allowed 13 home runs, more than in any prior season of his career. Michael King (8-9, 3.38 ERA) is pitching like the ace San Diego needs right now, posting a 2.79 ERA in July and just 4 earned runs across his last two August starts before this one.
Paul Skenes
(10-11)·3.83 ERA
Aug 19 vs Tigers
ND
4.1IP
3ER
5K
4BB
81P
08/25 Lineup
Michael King
(10-9)·3.00 ERA
Aug 19 @ Mets
L
6.2IP
2ER
4K
2BB
100P
08/25 Lineup
Both rotations are running thin behind their starters tonight. San Diego is already without Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta and Lucas Giolito, all on the 60-day IL, and Casey Mize is day-to-day after X-rays on a sprained ankle came back clean. Pittsburgh's without Mitch Keller for the year and still waiting on Endy Rodriguez and Ryan O'Hearn, who's at least back to swinging in the cage. That kind of pitching attrition tends to push both benches toward the bullpen faster than the box score suggests.
San Diego added King, Robbie Ray and Mize at the deadline to avoid exactly this spot — dropping a series to a team playing out the string. Pittsburgh did just that, beating the Padres 3-2 to open this set. San Diego's still holding the last NL wild-card spot with Arizona right behind, so a game like this carries more weight than the standings gap between these two clubs would suggest.
Brandon Lowe and Nick Gonzales have been doing the offensive lifting for Pittsburgh in this stretch, and San Diego still runs Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado through the middle of its order no matter who's on the mound behind them. If Skenes' recent flyball tendencies show up again tonight, that's the exact lineup built to punish it.
Whichever way the pitching shakes out, this is a matchup where margins matter more than the record gap. Pittsburgh's proven this week it can beat this team once; San Diego's proven all year it usually finds a way to hold its playoff position anyway. That tension is the whole game tonight.
Pirates 1, Padres 0: Final Score & Odds Recap — Pirates Look To Spoil San Diego's Wild-Card Push Again
