Padres Announce Starting Pitchers for Series With First-Place Athletics

The San Diego Padres are gearing up for a three-game series with the Athletics, following a disappointing matchup with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

After taking the first game of the series with Los Angeles, the Padres proceeded to drop the next two contests, falling out of first place in the National League West.

San Diego now sits 1.5 games behind the Dodgers in the division, and the team will be looking to bounce back against the Athletics.

Coming into the series, the Padres sit with a record of 29-20 overall, and they have gone 6-4 over the last 10 games. San Diego owns a record of 14-12 at home this season.

As for the Athletics, they enter this matchup following a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels. The Athletics have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, currently holding the top spot in the American League West division.

Last season, the Padres took two of three games against the Athletics.

Padres vs Athletics Pitching Probables

Friday, May 22: RHP Walker Buehler vs LHP Jeffrey Springs

San Diego will give the ball to Walker Buehler to open the series, and he will be looking to continue his run of solid starts.

Overall, Buehler has made nine starts, posting an ERA of 5.01. Buehler allowed two runs over five innings in his last outing against the Seattle Mariners.

Opposite Buehler will be lefty Jeffrey Springs, who has put up an ERA of 3.93 over 55 innings this year. Springs has only allowed more than two runs once over his last four outings for the Athletics.

Saturday, May 23: RHP Lucas Giolito vs RHP J.T. Ginn

Lucas Giolito gets the nod in the second game of the series, making his second outing for the team. Giolito pitched well in his first game against the Seattle Mariners, allowing three runs over five-plus innings (all three being charged to him in the sixth inning after he was removed from the game).

That was his first start since Sept. 23 of last season, while he was with the Boston Red Sox.

For the Athletics, right-hander J.T. Ginn faces off against the Padres. Ginn has done well for the team, throwing 51.1 innings while registering an ERA of 2.98 over 11 appearances. He took a no-hitter until his last game against the Los Angeles Angels, before giving up a walk-off two-run home run.

Sunday, May 24: RHP Michael King vs RHP Jacob Lopez

The Padres will finish the series off by handing the ball to right-hander Michael King, who has been excellent for San Diego this season, putting up an ERA of 2.31 over 10 starts.

The veteran is coming off seven shutout innings against the Dodgers, and he will look to continue that success.

As for the Athletics, Jacob Lopez takes the mound. Lopez has been pretty inconsistent this season, posting an ERA of 6.14 over 10 appearances.

Series Predictions

Coming off a tough series with the Dodgers, the Padres could look to take it out on the Athletics. While the Athletics are in first place, the team has been taking advantage of being in a poor AL West division.

San Diego's offense has been very inconsistent this year, but they will come alive in this series. The Padres will take two of three games over the Athletics to get back on track.

Additionally, Fernando Tatis Jr. will finally hit his first home run of the season in this series. His struggles have been well documented, but the drought will end this weekend.

How to Watch Padres vs Athletics May 22-24

First pitch for Friday's series opener is 6:40 p.m. PT/9:40 p.m. ET.

First pitch for Saturday's game is also 6:40 p.m. PT/9:40 p.m. ET.

First pitch for Sunday's series finale is 1:10 p.m. PT/4:10 p.m. ET.

All three games will be broadcast on Padres.TV and in the MLB app. The games will also be available via cable on the following channels:

Cox (Channel 83)
DirecTV (Channel 694-3)
AT&T Uverse (Channel 781 or 1781)
Spectrum (Channel 305 or 443)

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