Peavy Takes on Rivals
San Francisco, CA – The bounce-back season for NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy has been going quite well despite a less-than-stellar outing in his last start.
Peavy goes for his second win over San Francisco this year, and third in a row at AT&T Park on Tuesday night when the San Diego Padres (9-4) meet the Giants (4-8) in the start of a two-game series.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBG Global.com have made the Padres -110 moneyline favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Giants. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 75% of more than 2035 bets for this game have been placed on the Padres -110.
Peavy received all 32 first-place votes en route to winning the award for the top pitcher in 2007, but followed with one of the worst seasons of his seven-year career. The right-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list for only the second time due to an elbow strain, and despite finishing with a 2.85 ERA, was 10-11 in 27 starts, making him the ace of a team that came within one loss of 100.
Peavy (2-1, 3.98 ERA) has rebounded nicely. After losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day, Peavy struck out 10 and came within two outs of a complete game in a 6-3 home win over San Francisco on April 11.
"Jake threw the ball great – he was efficient all night and didn’t look like he was taxed at any one time," manager Bud Black told the Padres’ official Web site.
That improved Peavy to 12-8 with a 3.30 ERA In 24 career starts against the NL West rivals. He did not face the Giants in San Francisco last year, but was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts there in 2007.
Facing the New York Mets on Thursday in his first road start of 2009, Peavy gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Delgado in the first inning and permitted a season-high four walks over five innings, but got the decision in San Diego’s 6-5 win.
"This is the most gratifying win I think I’ve ever been a part of as a Padre, watching the total team effort that we gave tonight result in a win," Peavy said.
The Padres, 4-2 on their current swing, were in position for their second series win in three years in Philadelphia, but Monday’s finale against the Phillies was postponed by rain.
San Diego has been led by David Eckstein, who’s hitting .429 (9-for-21) on the road trip. Jody Gerut, who hit the first homer at new Citi Field, is batting .381 (8-for-21) over the last six games, while Adrian Gonzalez has four homers among his six hits over that stretch.
The first baseman had a team-high five RBIs as the Padres swept a three-game set from the Giants earlier this month.
San Francisco was then swept in a three-game set by the Dodgers before taking two of three from Arizona including a 2-0 victory on Sunday. Randy Johnson – now 45 years old – took a no-hitter into the seventh and finished by giving up one hit through seven innings for his 296th career win.
Now, Matt Cain (1-0, 2.08) will try to help the Giants win for the third time in four games and end a long streak of futility against San Diego.
After beating Milwaukee in his 2009 debut, the right-hander failed to get a decision in his last start, giving up two runs and seven hits over six innings of 5-4 loss at Los Angeles on Wednesday.
"My biggest thing was trying to stay in there as long as possible after that first inning and keep us close," said Cain , who fell to 0-6 in 12 career starts against the Dodgers. "I know I wasn’t seeing the ball well at the plate, so I’m sure the guys that hit everyday obviously had a lot of trouble as well."
Cain went 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his first five starts against the Padres, but has failed to beat them since September 2006. In 10 starts after that, Cain is 0-5 with a 3.59 ERA and has received only 16 runs of support.
San Francisco, though, has outscored San Diego 20-10 while winning four straight at home from the Padres.
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Posted: 4/21/09 12:21AM ET
