Sept. 13 – The San Francisco Giants are on the verge of elimination in the National League wild-card round and will have a chance to disrupt their NFC West club playoff bid in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
The Giants (72-75) fell 8 1/2 games out of the final NFC wild-card spot after losing 3-0 at home to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night. San Francisco has just 15 games remaining.
Six of those games — including three games in Arizona’s final week of the regular season — will be against NFC West opponents currently in a wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks (82-64) have the best record among wild-card candidates, while the Padres (82-65) are just a half-game behind them.
The Giants hurt the Padres’ chances last week by winning two of three games in San Diego. San Diego then won two games against Seattle to enter the series after having Monday and Thursday off.
The opener’s pitching contest was a repeat of the Giants’ 6-3 win last Saturday, with San Francisco right-hander Logan Webb (12-9, 3.46 ERA) defeating Padres right-hander Dylan Cease (12-11, 3.71).
Both teams should be well acquainted with each other’s starters. Weber has played the Padres three times this season, with the Giants leading 2-1. The Mariners have also played the Giants three times this year and the Padres have lost all three, including a 6-9 loss at home and a 2-3 loss in their first two games in San Francisco the season before.
For his career, Seth has a 2-2 record with a 3.38 ERA in five games against the Giants.
Weber earned the win in last week’s head-to-head matchup with Osian, giving up three runs and 10 hits in six innings. The 27-year-old has started 12 of 13 career games against the Padres and is 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA.
Weber will rekindle his rivalry with Padres slugger Manny Machado, who went 2-for-3 against the pitching staff last week, giving him a lifetime hitting percentage against the 2024 All-Star, improving to .333 (10-for-30).
Machado arrived in San Francisco this week after earning two honors, once as the Padres’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee and another by surpassing Nate Colbert as the franchise’s all-time leader in saves.
“Congratulations to Manny on many fronts,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Not just the franchise record for home runs… It was an honor to watch him behind the scenes and see how good he was, especially to kids. He deserves this for what he’s done for our community.”
Seth allowed four runs in six innings in a loss to the Giants last Saturday. The 28-year-old has made five career starts against the Giants and is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA.
Three of City’s four runs in last week’s loss to San Francisco were home runs by Grant McCray, who had two homers and five RBIs in the win.
McCaffrey has gone 1-17 since then. The Giants allowed only nine hits in two losses in the recently concluded series against the Brewers, including a 13-run explosion in the middle of the game that was their only win.
The Giants also lost their leading hitter in Thursday’s game, shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who had to be replaced in the third inning because of lower back pain. His status will be reevaluated before Friday’s first game.
“He was in a little bit of pain,” Giants head coach Bob Melvin said. “Hitting the ball was OK, but when I was running around and pitching, it was a little bit of a problem. I had to come off the field. It hurt a lot.”
-Onsite level media
