The Sacramento Athletics are heading to Petco Park to take on the San Diego Padres. The A’s, with a record of 26-24, are currently first in the AL West. The Padres, sitting at 29-20, are second in the NL West.
Athletics’ Recent Form and Key Players
Sacramento has won three consecutive games and holds a 1½-game lead over the Texas Rangers in their division. The Athletics’ run differential is minus-4, ranking them 14th overall. Their OPS stands at .726, tied for seventh in the league. The team’s rotation ERA is 4.24, placing them 18th, while their bullpen ERA is 4.44, ranking 21st.
Several players have been performing well for the Athletics this month. Zack Gelof and Brent Rooker both have five home runs in May. Shea Langeliers has contributed four homers. Nick Kurtz has been a strong run producer with 21 RBIs in 19 games this month, and he boasts a team-best 1.017 OPS. Tyler Soderstrom, however, has a .561 OPS this month.
In the bullpen, Hogan Harris has made a team-leading 26 appearances this season, posting a 3.00 ERA. Justin Sterner has 24 appearances with a 3.80 ERA. Scott Barlow has pitched in 23 games with a 3.09 ERA, while Mark Leiter has a 6.23 ERA in his 23 appearances.
Padres Look to Rebound Against Athletics
The Padres are looking to bounce back after dropping two of three games to their rival Dodgers. They are currently 1½ games out of first place in their division. San Diego’s run differential is plus-3, ranking them 11th. However, their OPS is .658, placing them 29th in the league. The Padres’ rotation ERA is 4.45, ranking 21st, while their bullpen ERA is 3.32, ranking seventh.
Gavin Sheets has been a standout performer for the Padres in May, hitting five home runs and posting a 1.058 OPS. Miguel Andujar has also contributed with four homers and an .813 OPS this month. Despite these performances, no Padres regulars have an OPS over .585 this month, due to not having enough at-bats to qualify among leaders. Manny Machado has struggled, posting a .439 OPS despite hitting three home runs.
Four Padres relievers have not allowed an earned run this month. Jason Adam has pitched 7⅔ innings, Mason Miller 7⅓ innings, Wandy Peralta 9⅔ innings, and Yuki Matsui 10 innings without conceding an earned run.
Pitching Matchups
Jeffrey Springs is scheduled to pitch for the Athletics. He has a 3-4 record with a 3.93 ERA. Springs’ average fastball velocity ranks in the bottom 10% among qualifying pitchers. He has made 10 starts, with four being quality starts, and has recorded 47 strikeouts against 16 walks in 55 innings. Springs has a career 8.31 ERA in 8⅔ innings against the Padres. He beat them in a quality start last year in Sacramento, allowing 3 earned runs in 6 innings.
Walker Buehler is set to pitch for the Padres. He has a 3-2 record with a 5.01 ERA. Buehler has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his last seven starts, posting a 4.15 ERA during that stretch. He has a 3.16 ERA in five starts at Petco Park and is holding right-handers to a .600 OPS. His only start against the A’s was back in 2020, where he pitched 4 innings, allowing 1 hit and no runs, with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.
J.T. Ginn is also slated to pitch for the Athletics. He has a 2-2 record with a 2.98 ERA. Ginn went eight innings in his last start but lost both the no-hitter and the game via a walkoff homer. He has a 44-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 51 ⅓ innings and has a 2.64 ERA in eight starts. This is Ginn’s first appearance against the Padres.
Lucas Giolito is also scheduled to pitch for the Padres. He has a 1-0 record with a 5.40 ERA. Giolito sat 90.4 mph while allowing three runs in five innings on Sunday in his Padres debut in Seattle. He struck out three and walked three. Giolito has a 5.01 ERA in four career starts against the Athletics and a 7.71 ERA in one career start at Petco Park (2025).
The Padres took two of three from the Athletics last year in Sacramento.