Padres at Nationals
The San Diego Padres have been feast or famine over the past 2 1/2 weeks, winning four in a row before losing six straight and responding with a five-game winning streak. Owner of the National League's best road record, the Padres will go for their sixth consecutive victory as they vie for a three-game sweep of the struggling Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon.
Hunter Renfroe hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning of the series opener and added a two-run blast in Saturday's 8-3 victory as San Diego improved to 9-3 away from home. Renfroe added a sacrifice fly in a six-run 10th inning as the Padres victimized Washington's bullpen after withstanding strong performances from the Nationals' top two starters. Washington has dropped a season-worst three in a row and six of eight to fall three games below .500 overall and a dismal 5-8 at Nationals Park. The lone bright spot offensively was left fielder Juan Soto, who clubbed a towering two-run homer to extend his hitting streak to five games.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FS San Diego, MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Joey Lucchesi (3-2, 4.33 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 4.34)
Lucchesi came up one out shy of a quality start last time out, ending a two-game losing streak by allowing one run and five hits while striking out a season-high eight to beat Cincinnati. He turned in his longest outing in his previous turn versus Colorado but took the loss after giving up five runs and a pair of homers in seven innings. Making only his second start on the road, where he was 3-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 2018, Lucchesi tossed five innings of one-run ball in a no-decision versus the visiting Nationals last year.
After facing fireballers Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in the first two games of the series, San Diego gets a break of sorts against Hellickson, who is coming off his worst start -- a loss in which he was knocked around for five runs and nine hits over five innings. He won his previous two turns with 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball against San Francisco and six scoreless innings at Philadelphia. Wil Myers is 6-for-14 with two homers off Hellickson, who was 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA in two starts versus the Padres in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Nationals 3B Anthony Rendon was held out Saturday due to soreness in his elbow that caused him to miss four games.
2. Padres 3B Manny Machado has hit safely in three straight but has one extra-base hit in 11 games.
3. Nationals RF Adam Eaton had his 11-game hitting streak snapped Saturday.