Know Your Foe #46: Rockies Travel to San Diego Hoping to Find Solace in Their Home Away from Home

San Diego Padres (60-77 / 5th in the NL West / 18 GB)

2011 Record vs. Colorado: 5-7 (54 runs scored, 58 runs allowed)

Last Series vs. Rockies: July 29-31 (L 1-2 at Petco Park)

How could we forget this series? After taking the first game of the set 3-2 behind Jason Hammel's last strong starting pitching performance, the Rockies trotted out lame-duck pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to start the second game of the series despite the fact that he had already seemingly been traded to the Cleveland Indians. To the surprise of no one, Jimenez allowed four first inning runs in a shaky performance before being pulled at the conclusion of the inning, never to be seen again in a Rockies uniform. Luckily for Colorado, they would bounce back (and perhaps even luckier, the Indians still went through with the trade). Eliezer Alfonzo bought himself a spot on the active roster for the remainder of the season (and even a few starts in the cleanup spot) by blasting a grand slam in the sixth inning to put the Rockies ahead 7-4. Troy Tulowitzki homered for the Rockies as well, while Chris Nelson, Dexter Fowler, and Esmil Rogers (who was also dominant in five innings of relief) each contributed multi-hit efforts, as well.

The series finale saw Juan Nicasio twirl an absolute gem, as he went seven innings, allowed one earned run on five hits, and racked up ten strikeouts. Unfortunately, Rex Brothers and Matt Belisle let the game spiral completely out of control in the eighth inning, as the Padres plated six runs and took an 8-3 lead which they would hold onto. Once again, Tulowitzki, Alfonzo, Fowler, and Nelson were the big offensive contributors for Colorado.

Jesus Guzman and Cameron Maybin led the Padres with four hits in the series. Guzman's proved to be the biggest, as two of the hits were doubles and he was able to drive in four runs. As is the case with this season as a whole, the rest of the Padre offensive attack was quite balanced, as no player other than those two had more than three knocks in the series.

Latest Series Results: L 0-3 at Arizona; L 0-3 at Los Angeles (NL)

Until this last road trip in which they finished 1-7, the Padres were playing good baseball and actually led the NL West in run differential. However, things took a turn for the worst when they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Giants in San Francisco in which they only had four hits. Including that loss, the Padres have lost seven straight games.

Jesus Guzman

#15 / First Base / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-1

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jun 14, 1984

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	AVG	OBP	SLG
2011 - Jesus Guzman	.330	.384	.522

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After years of getting bounced around by various organizations on the west coast, Guzman is doing his best to ensure that nobody will, in fact, F with the Jesus. Guzman just continues to hit, as he is maintaining a 163 wRC+ despite currently going through a 22-game home run drought. As for the rest of the Padre offense, they're widely-synonymous with being terrible and have been for some time. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, they boast six "regulars" with a wRC+ of over 100.

What is not surprising is that, like everybody else in baseball (excluding the Rockies), the Padres have a pitching staff and a bullpen. However, what makes theirs different from everybody else is that all of their pitchers are made up of spare parts that have been lying around the surrounding areas of Petco Park for decades. Sometime in the near future, these "pitchers" will be traded for everyday contributors and solid prospects. That, my friends, is the Padre Way.

The usual stuff after the jump...

Friday through Sunday: 3-game series at Petco Park

Expected Pitching Matchups

Friday, September 2, 2011 @ 8:05 PM MT

Saturday, September 3, 2011 @ 6:35 PM MT

Sunday, September 4, 2011 @ 2:05 PM MT

Expected Lineup

Bench

*Maybin has a wrist injury and may or may not return to the lineup this weekend. For now, we'll count him out (as I like to be optimistic).

Closer

Injuries