Clayton Richard silenced the Reds in his last start and that’s the same kind of treatment he’s looking to administer on the Cubs, when he takes on the defending champs tonight.
Richard went 8.2 innings long in a 6-2 home win over Cincy on June 13, giving up only two earned runs on eight hits while fanning out six. It improved his record to 5-7 on the season and lowered his 2017 ERA to 4.30 across 14 starts.
Behind Richard is the Padres’ offense that has been making noise of late, averaging 5.3 runs in the past six outings. This recent mild success at the plate for the team could be partly attributed to Yangervis Solarte, who has gone 8-for-22 with four homers and seven RBI in his last six games. Erick Aybar, meanwhile, could make a difference tonight, as he is a career .385 hitter (10-for-26) against Cubs starter, Jon Lester.
The under is 3-1-0 in Richard’s last four road starts.
The Cubs are back to .500 after beating the Pirates on Sunday, 7-1. They will look to make it back-to-back when they play the first of the three games of their series at home versus the visiting Padres. And they appear to have the perfect weapon to tame the Padres: a lefty starter.
That’s Jon Lester, who is 4-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 14 starts this year.
The Padres are among the worst hitting clubs in the majors against southpaws. They are last in the National League in batting average versus lefties. In addition, the Padres are 0-6 in their last six games against lefty starters.
Anthony Rizzo is 17-for-62 (.274) with six homers against lefties this season. Albert Almora Jr. and Wilson Contreras, meanwhile, are hitting .378 and .273 against left-handed pitchers, respectively.
