Padres face Rays, hope for home advantage to continue

Petco Park has been home, sweet home for the San Diego Padres early in the 2025 season.

With four starters and a backup outfielder currently out with injuries, San Diego will need to tap into its huge home-field advantage more than ever on Friday night when it opens a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Padres are 12-1 in their bayside ballpark, where sellout crowds show up for nearly every game and give the club a lift more commonly seen in fabled venues such as Yankee Stadium or Busch Stadium. The Padres’ pitching staff has six shutouts at home this season.

That helps explain why, despite the likes of Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and Luis Arraez landing on the injured list this month, San Diego owns a half-game lead over San Francisco and a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the tough National League West.

“We know they’re coming back,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said of his injured teammates. “It’s just a matter of keeping the boat afloat. We’ve been doing that. We’ve been playing really good baseball.”

Still, a diminished lineup managed just 15 runs during a 2-4 road trip that culminated Wednesday with a 6-0 setback at Detroit — the team’s first shutout loss of the year. And the Padres figure to have their work cut out for them against right-hander Shane Baz (2-0, 3.22 ERA) on Friday.

Although Baz is coming off a rough outing in his team’s 10-8, 10-inning win over the New York Yankees on Saturday, allowing five runs on four hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings, he’s struck out 30 batters in just 22 1/3 innings this season. He owns a win in his only career outing against San Diego, giving up two runs in five innings last August.

Tampa Bay comes to town after taking two of three games in Arizona, including a 7-4, 10-inning win in Thursday night’s series finale. Christopher Morel capped a three-run 10th with a two-run homer, his second straight game with a long ball.

The Rays’ offense, which ranks among the top 10 in MLB in average, slugging and on-base percentage, will be challenged by Padres right-hander Michael King (3-0, 2.57). He’s coming off a no-decision Saturday in a 3-2 loss at Houston, where he allowed two runs off four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven.

The former New York Yankee has faced Tampa Bay 11 times — eight as a reliever — and is 1-1 with a 6.38 ERA. King will make his first home start since blanking Colorado on April 13 for his first career shutout.

King won’t have to worry about facing rookie outfielder Jake Mangum, who hit the injured list Thursday with a left groin strain. Mangum is hitting .338 with seven RBI and eight steals, tied for the American League lead.

“I feel for Jake, because he was doing a lot of good things,” said Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash. “Plays with a unique intensity that I think makes his teammates better. To see him now going to have to miss some time is frustrating.”

–Field Level Media