San Diego Padres at Kansas City Royals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
SD	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0
KC	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	—	6	9	0

Griffin Canning (1-7, 6.47) gets the ball for San Diego looking to salvage the middle game of this set, and he'll need to be sharp against a Royals lineup that just found its pulse. Randy Dobnak takes the mound for Kansas City in a bulk role, sitting on a tidy 1.86 ERA since the Royals plucked him off waivers-adjacent obscurity and rode his sinker to a surprising run of solid outings.

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FINAL

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ML

Total

Padres(48-49)

LWWLL

1

-1.5+150-104o10.5-111

Royals(39-59)

WLLLL

6

+1.5-153+102u10.5+111

Best BetPadres -117

Pregame

San Diego's the better team on paper by a wide margin despite the ugly Friday loss, and the Padres are getting a fair price to win outright against a Royals club that's still 20 games under .500. Kansas City just snapped a five-game skid, but one walk-off doesn't erase the talent gap here. Back the Padres to bounce back and take this one straight up.

Friday's loss stung. Ty France tied it with a two-out homer in the ninth, only for the Padres bullpen to cough up four runs in the 10th as Carter Jensen delivered the walk-off single. It snapped a five-game Royals losing streak and flipped the emotional momentum of this series in Kansas City's favor going into Saturday, even with the two teams still separated by nine games in the standings.

Griffin Canning

(2-9)·6.65 ERA

Jul 9 vs Diamondbacks

L

4.2IP

2ER

5K

0BB

74P

07/18 Lineup

Randy Dobnak

(1-0)·1.04 ERA

07/18 Lineup

San Diego's pitching depth is getting stretched thin. Wandy Peralta, arguably their best reliever this year at a 2.23 ERA before he left the team on bereavement leave, is out, and setup man Jason Adam's shoulder issue looks like it could linger into August. That leaves manager Mike Shildt piecing together high-leverage innings on the fly, which is exactly how Friday's ninth-inning lead turned into a 10th-inning disaster.

San Diego Padres

(12)

• 10-Day-ILSamad Taylor (LF) — Taylor said Wednesday that he exited Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks with a right side injury, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.07/08
• 15-Day-ILRandy Vasquez (SP) — no07/18
• 15-Day-ILDavid Morgan (RP) — Morgan (knee) began a rehab assignment at the rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Wednesday, yielding one hit and two walks with one strikeout in one-third of an inning, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.07/16
• BereavementWandy Peralta (RP) — The Padres placed Peralta (personal) on the bereavement list Wednesday.07/15
• 15-Day-ILJason Adam (RP) — Adam said Friday that an MRI on his right shoulder revealed no major structural damage, and he's hopeful to return from the 15-day injured list in early-to-mid August, MLB.com reports.07/07
• 15-Day-ILJeremiah Estrada (RP) — Estrada (knee) threw a bullpen session Saturday, his first since landing on the injured list June 5, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.07/07
• 15-Day-ILLucas Giolito (SP) — Giolito (elbow) resumed light throwing in late June, per MLB.com.07/03
• OutYu Darvish (SP) — Darvish (elbow) revealed Tuesday in a social media post that he has resumed playing catch.05/12
• 60-Day-ILNick Pivetta (SP) — Pivetta (forearm) threw a light bullpen session Saturday, MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILJoe Musgrove (SP) — Musgrove (elbow) started playing catch in late May, per MLB.com.06/08
• 60-Day-ILRamon Laureano (LF) — Laureano underwent surgery Friday to repair his torn right labrum, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.06/05
• 60-Day-ILBryan Hoeing (RP) — The Padres transferred Hoeing (elbow) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.05/08

Kansas City Royals

(11)

• 10-Day-ILMaikel Garcia (3B) — Garcia (hand) began swinging during the All-Star break and is set to be re-evaluated Sunday, per MLB.com.07/18
• 10-Day-ILKyle Isbel (CF) — Isbel (foot) participated in a full team workout Friday and could begin a rehab assignment next week, per MLB.com.07/18
• BereavementStephen Kolek (SP) — Kolek (personal) will make a rehab start Saturday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.07/17
• 15-Day-ILConnor Seabold (RP) — The Royals placed Seabold on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a right lat strain.07/01
• 60-Day-ILCarlos Estevez (RP) — Estevez (shoulder) started a throwing program Friday, per MLB.com.07/18
• 60-Day-ILKris Bubic (SP) — Bubic (elbow/shoulder) could begin a new throwing program next week, per MLB.com.07/18
• 60-Day-ILNick Mears (RP) — The Royals transferred Mears (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Tuesday.07/14
• 60-Day-ILCole Ragans (SP) — Ragans underwent UCL repair surgery on his left elbow Wednesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.07/02
• 60-Day-ILJonathan India (2B) — no06/04
• 60-Day-ILJames McArthur (RP) — McArthur (elbow) underwent surgery Friday to help combat continued soreness and inflammation, MLB.com reports.05/25
• 60-Day-ILAlec Marsh (SP) — The Royals placed Marsh (shoulder) on the 60-day injured list Thursday.05/08

San Diego Padres

(48-49)

Jul 18L@ Royals6-7

Jul 12Wvs Blue Jays5-4

Jul 12Wvs Blue Jays8-7

Jul 11Lvs Blue Jays3-5

Jul 10Lvs Diamondbacks1-3

Kansas City Royals

(39-59)

Jul 18Wvs Padres7-6

Jul 12L@ Orioles2-8

Jul 11L@ Orioles1-6

Jul 10L@ Orioles3-5

Jul 9L@ Mets3-7

Canning has been the Padres' biggest reclamation project gone sideways — he's allowed at least 3 runs in 5 of his last 6 starts and has been homer-prone all year, a far cry from the pitcher who threw well for the Mets before his Achilles injury last season. Kansas City's lineup won't strike fear into anyone, but Lane Thomas and Michael Massey have been swinging hot bats, and this offense clearly has more life in it after Friday's rally than its 39-59 record suggests.

For a Padres team that ripped off a 19-9 start before an eight-game skid derailed the middle of their season, dropping a series to the worst team in the sport would be a bad look heading into the stretch run. San Diego still has the名 talent to roll through a light schedule spot like this one — but Friday was a reminder that even the last-place team in the league can make them pay for a shaky bullpen.