Baltimore @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 18, 2010 ) Baltimore 2, San Diego 3
Maybe Kevin Millwood really likes it with the Baltimore Orioles and he has no desire to be traded to a contending team.
At least that is the way he is pitching right now. The veteran right-hander has been so hittable lately that scouts watching his games may be sending back reports stating it is probably best to stay away.
Obviously, when as starter is 0-8 with a gaudy 5.16 ERA at this point in the season, he is not having a great season. But the reason he is losing now is in large part because of his own ineffectiveness - rather just being on a putrid team, as was the case early in the year.
Through the month of May, Millwood was 0-5 with a 3.89 ERA. It was clear he was pitching well enough to win, but the rest of the team either didn’t score enough runs or the bullpen let him down.
Millwood, who entered the year with a .562 winning percentage, has been a different pitcher since the start of June. He has allowed 20 earned runs and 31 hits in 16 2/3 innings (10.84 ERA) over his last three starts.
All pitchers go through bad stretches at some point and the great ones limit it to a handful of starts.
A former 18-game winner, Millwood will get his chance to end this string Saturday at Petco Park against the NL West-leading San Diego Padres.
Petco is a spacious park and the Padres do not feature an imposing offensive lineup, so Millwood might get the chance to show the scouts peering in that he is worth a gamble.
Licking his chops at the thought of facing a winless pitcher is San Diego starter Clayton Richard (4-3, 2.71 ERA).
That’s because Richard hasn’t won in a while as well, going 0-1 over his last four starts and last winning on May 22.
It’s been more bad luck, however, than bad pitching. Over his last three starts, all no-decisions, he has allowed a total of four earned runs in 20 innings.
The Padres offense, led by All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, owes Richard a boatload of runs and just might find them against the Millwood and the Orioles.