Oakland @ San Diego preview
PETCO Park
Last Meeting ( Mar 17, 2015 ) San Diego 2, Oakland 13
Jesse Hahn toes the rubber against his former team when he leads the Oakland Athletics into the opener of a four-game, home-and-home interleague set against the Padres that begins in San Diego on Monday. The 25-year-old Hahn was one of the key figures in a trade between the teams in December that sent All-Star catcher Derek Norris to the Padres.
Hahn was an impressive 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA at Petco Park last year and will be looking to follow up another gem by Oakland ace Sonny Gray, who pitched his team to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Billy Burns recorded two more hits and has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games, batting .333 and stealing five bases in that stretch. Meanwhile, the Padres began their five-game homestand by dropping two of three against the Los Angeles Dodgers, capped by a 4-2 setback in 12 innings on Sunday. The teams will play two in Petco Park before the series switches to Oakland for a pair on Wednesday and Thursday.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Jesse Hahn (3-5, 3.84 ERA) vs. Padres RH Tyson Ross (3-6, 3.81)
Hahn had posted five straight quality starts with an ERA of 2.36 before he was hit hard by Texas on Wednesday. The Virginia Tech product gave up four runs on seven hits, two walks and three hit batsmen in 3 2/3 innings before the A's rallied for a 5-4 win. Hahn, who has posted a 4.40 ERA on the road this year, is 5-1 with a 2.58 mark in the month of June for his career.
Ross has gone eight straight starts without allowing a home run, yielding fewer than four runs each time. He gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings of a 4-1 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, his fourth quality start in the last five turns. Ross, who was 6-18 with a 5.33 ERA in three seasons with Oakland to begin his career, has yet to pitch against his former team.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Padres are 7-13 in series openers.
2. Oakland committed two more errors Sunday to push its major league-leading total to 61.
3. Norris is 5-for-30 with nine strikeouts over his last seven games.
PREDICTION: Padres 4, Athletics 3