Red-Hot Padres Announce Starting Pitchers for Weekend Series vs Guardians

The San Diego Padres are getting ready for a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians following an impressive sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Padres have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning seven of their last 10 games overall. The team has now put itself into a wild-card spot in the National League, overtaking both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Padres enjoyed a day off on Thursday before the series with the Guardians opens on Friday, but the team is excited to get back out on the field. Fernando Tatis Jr. reflected on the team's recent winning ways ahead of the matchup with Cleveland.

“It’s much needed,” Tatis said of the day off. “But at the same time, we’re hot. We want to keep playing baseball. But it’s going to be well received, and then we’ve got more business to take care of in Cleveland.”

As for the Guardians, they enter this series with a record of 59-63 for the season, sitting in fourth place in the American League Central. Cleveland has been in a downward spiral lately, having lost four straight series.

Padres vs Guardians Probable Pitchers

Friday, Aug. 14: RHP Michael King vs RHP Gavin Williams

King gets the nod to open the series, hoping to keep the winning ways going for San Diego. The right-hander has had a very solid year, recording a 3.77 ERA over 24 starts.

In his last outing, King went six innings, allowing one run on three hits against the Houston Astros.

Williams takes the ball against King, with the righty posting a 3.55 ERA over 24 starts. Against the Chicago White Sox in his last outing, Williams fired 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out seven.

Saturday, Aug. 15: TBA (likely RHP Randy Vásquez) vs LHP Joey Cantillo

Vásquez is the likely starter for the Padres in the second game, with him putting together some nice starts of late. On the year, the veteran owns a 4.16 ERA over 23 appearances (19 starts), but he's only allowed two runs over his last two starts against the Diamondbacks and Astros.

Manager Craig Stammen has been happy with the right-hander's productivity on the mound of late, but the team is declining to name him the No. 5 starter for now.

“Randy pitched great last time,” Stammen said. “There’s not much more else he can do besides how he pitched … the last time he went out. I just feel like we have options within our pitching staff that can hopefully give us a better chance to win. … I think we saw so much success with it before the trade deadline and a little bit after, with how we mixed up the pitching staff and tried to match up as best we could. … Having one spot like that open to be able to do that is advantageous for us.”

Cantillo has made 25 starts for the Guardians this season, posting a 3.91 ERA. The left-hander has only thrown six innings in August, with his last start ending after just one inning.

Sunday, Aug. 16: RHP Casey Mize vs RHP Tanner Bibee

Mize gets the ball for the Padres in the finale, and he knows the Guardians very well from his time with the Detroit Tigers. The right-hander faced Cleveland in May, throwing 6.2 innings of work and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four.

His tenure with the Padres has been inconsistent so far, with Mize looking to build on his last start. In his first outing, Mize was rocked for eight runs, but in his last start, he allowed just two runs over six innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Opposite Mize will be Bibee, who has been solid for the Guardians this year, sporting a 3.99 ERA over 25 starts. In his last outing, Bibee allowed six runs (five earned) over 6.1 innings against Mize's former team, the Tigers.

How to Watch Padres vs Guardians August 14-16

First pitch for Friday's series opener is at 4:10 p.m. PT/7:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Guardians.TV, WKYC 3 and in the MLB app.

First pitch for Saturday's game is at 4:10 p.m. PT/7:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Guardians.TV, KFMB 8.1 (CBS), TV Azteca and in the MLB app.

First pitch for Sunday's series finale is at 10:40 a.m. PT/1:40 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Guardians.TV and in the MLB app.

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