All-Star hero Brian McCann is hitting over .300 in July.
The San Diego Padres are in the middle of a rare power surge as they continue their series at the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night. This is a battle of surprising NL division leaders.
The Padres (54-37) opened the second half with a three-game sweep of Arizona, scoring 26 runs in the process. They also averaged 6.2 runs per game in their final six before the break at Washington and Colorado. The ‘over’ is 8-1 in their last nine games overall.
San Diego has a four-game lead in the NL West over San Francisco, pending the Tuesday night opener with Atlanta. The Padres have built their lead with the NL’s top-ranked pitching staff (3.25 ERA). The offense is averaging just 4.42 runs per game (12th in the NL) even with the recent outburst.
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San Diego has the best road record in the NL (24-18). No other team is even above .500.
NL East Atlanta (54-38) also leads its division, 5.5 games over the New York Mets and six over preseason favorite Philadelphia.
The Braves have the best home record in baseball (32-12). That’s translated into plus 13.8 units, MLB’ second best home money-line mark after Detroit (14.8 units). Atlanta split a four-game home series with Milwaukee to start the second half.
Tommy Hanson (8-6, 4.19 ERA) had one of the losses against Milwaukee. He allowed three earned runs over five innings last Friday in a 9-3 loss. Atlanta is now just 2-3 in his last five starts after beginning the season 11-3.
The 23-year-old righty was 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA as a rookie last year. His consistency just isn’t there this season, with only eight quality starts in 19 outings.
Hanson pitched at San Diego in his second start of this season. He limited the Padres to one run and four hits over six innings. He’s 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA lifetime against them, both coming on the road.
Veteran Jon Garland (9-6, 3.45 ERA) will be the opposing pitcher. He was on fire to start the season with a 2.15 ERA through May. His ERA is 5.29 since, closer to his 4.36 career mark.
The 30-year-old righty continues to pile up innings. He’s gone at least six innings in 14 of his 19 starts. He pitched well at home last Friday versus Arizona, one earned run over six innings. However, he’s 2-3 with a 5.87 ERA in his last five road starts.
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Garland is 0-2 with an awful 14.04 ERA lifetime versus Atlanta. The first start (2008) was with the L.A. Angels and the second (2009) with Arizona. This is his first trip to Turner Field after spending most of his career in the AL.
Atlanta took two of three games at San Diego in April. Atlanta is 7-2 in the last nine home meetings. The ‘under’ is 15-5-1 in the last 21 meetings in Atlanta.
Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones has been dealing with a hamstring injury. His .774 OPS is a career low. San Diego had key starter Mat Latos and reliever Mike Adams put on the DL recently. Both have oblique injuries.
First pitch for Wednesday is 4:10 p.m. (PT). Weather is expected to be warm and humid in the 80s.
The series will conclude on Thursday with an early 10:05 a.m. (PT) start.