Pirates at Padres
San Diego native Trevor Williams pitches inside Petco Park for the second time when the Pittsburgh Pirates visit the Padres on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series. Williams didn't fare well last year in his first appearance as he allowed four runs and four hits over 4 2/3 innings during a 4-3 loss.
Williams and the Pirates are 4-3 on an 11-game road trip after being pounded 11-1 by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. Hot-hitting first baseman Josh Bell went 2-for-4 and is 26-for-61 with six homers and 21 RBIs during a career-long 15-game hitting streak for Pittsburgh. San Diego has lost three straight games and five of its last seven after falling 2-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. First baseman Eric Hosmer had three of the Padres' four hits and shortstop Manny Machado had the other to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network; AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (2-1, 3.40 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Lauer (2-4, 5.75)
Williams defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in his last turn as he gave up one run and nine hits over seven innings. The 27-year-old has pitched at least six innings in all eight of his starts and has issued one or fewer walks in seven of them. Williams is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two career starts against the Padres and has struggled against Greg Garcia (8-for-14, two RBIs).
Lauer was torched for eight runs and eight hits over three innings while losing to the Colorado Rockies in his last turn. The 23-year-old has pitched fewer than six innings in five straight starts after opening the season with wins in two of his first three outings. Lauer faced the Pirates twice as a rookie last season and went 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA and struggled with Bell (4-for-6, two RBIs).
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres rookie SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (hamstring) is making progress and could return by the middle of next week. He has missed the past 15 games.
2. Pittsburgh RF Melky Cabrera went 6-for-13 with two RBIs in the three-game series against the Diamondbacks.
3. San Diego OF Hunter Renfroe is 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts over the past three games.