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Once again, the
San Diego Padres
are finding May to their liking.
The Padres (17-15) look to win their 10th straight game on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series with the
Milwaukee Brewers
(16-16) at Petco Park.
San Diego is on its longest winning streak since a club-record 14-game run from June 18-July 2, 2005. The Padres completed
their first four-game home sweep of the
Chicago Cubs
with an 8-3 victory on Monday.
Last season, San Diego went 22-6 in May en route to the NL West title.
''It took us a little bit longer than we had hoped to come to fruition, but it's here right now and hopefully we can ride
this out,'' outfielder
Dave Roberts
said.
The key to this season's winning streak has been San Diego's pitching, which has registered a 2.54 ERA during the run. The
bullpen has been especially impressive with a 1.88 ERA in that stretch.
Chris Young
pitched 6 2-3 effective innings and
Brian Giles
went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Monday's win.
The Padres have also received excellent work from closer
Trevor Hoffman
this season. The veteran is 5-for-5 in save chances and has not allowed a run over his last 10 appearances.
Clay Hensley
(1-2, 4.28 ERA) makes his fifth start of the season for San Diego on Tuesday. Hensley is 1-1 with a 3.22 ERA as a starter
after making six relief appearances to start the year.
The right-hander did not receive a decision in his last outing despite allowing just two hits in six innings in San Diego's
3-0 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers
on Thursday. He's limiting opponents to a .167 batting average in his starts.
Hensley is making his first start against the Brewers. He pitched two hitless innings of relief against them last Sept. 4.
Milwaukee was swept over the weekend by the Dodgers to fall back to the .500 mark for the first time since April 24. The Brewers
allowed the Dodgers to bat .343 in the sweep.
''Sometimes you play yourself into a rut,'' second baseman
Rickie Weeks
said. ''It's a long season, and we're all going to have our ups and downs.''
It was a rough series for right fielder
Geoff Jenkins
, who received a day off Sunday after going hitless in nine at-bats in the first two games. Jenkins is just 6-for-24 in six
games at Petco Park.
One of the lone bright spots was left fielder
Carlos Lee
, who homered twice in the series and has connected six times in the last nine games. Lee is batting .317 on the road this
season with 10 of his 14 homers coming away from home.
Milwaukee starter
Doug Davis
(2-2, 5.35) is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in his last two starts. He allowed four hits over six scoreless innings in a 7-4 victory
over San Francisco on Thursday.
Davis, though, still isn't happy with his control - he's walked 17 over his last three outings.
''I still have work to do,'' he said.
The left-hander is 3-2 with a 3.24 ERA in six appearances against San Diego, including five starts.
Padres center fielder
Mike Cameron
is 12-for-31 with nine RBIs against Davis.
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