Abbott Leads Reds Vs Padres as Cincinnati Arrives on Four-Game Slide
The reds vs padres series opens with Cincinnati carrying a four-game losing streak into Petco Park, and the Reds need a cleaner week to keep pace in the NL Central and wild-card chase. San Diego enters just as uneasy, having dropped 11 of 13 while trying to close its homestand with more than a split.
Abbott Faces San Diego
Andrew Abbott is lined up to start for Cincinnati, and the matchup leans on a number that has traveled well for him: a 2-0 career record, a 0.98 ERA, 24 strikeouts and a 0.94 WHIP in four starts against the Padres. He is 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA overall, but has worked to a 2.25 ERA over his last seven starts, with four quality starts in that stretch.
The left-hander has also been more stable away from home. Abbott has a 2.81 ERA on the road compared with a 5.15 ERA at Great American Ball Park, which gives Cincinnati a reason to trust him in a game it needs to stop the slide. The Reds won four of six against San Diego last year, and this opener gives them another chance to lean on a familiar arm.
Reds Search For Runs
Cincinnati reached Petco Park at 31-33 and fifth in the NL Central, 9 1/2 games behind the Brewers and 2 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot. The club’s minus-51 run differential, tied for 28th, matches the results: the offense has been uneven, the rotation sits 23rd in ERA at 4.60, and the bullpen ranks 29th at 5.12.
There are still some bats producing. Matt McLain has three home runs to start June, and Spencer Steer has opened the month with a.939 OPS and two home runs. But Sal Stewart’s.501 OPS, JJ Bleday’s.454 mark, Nathaniel Lowe’s.321 figure and Eugenio Suarez’s.311 line show how thin the support has been around them.
Padres Need A Reset
San Diego is 33-31 and third in the NL West, eight games behind the Dodgers and a half-game out of a wild-card spot. The Padres’ 17-18 home record and minus-18 run differential reflect a team that has not protected Petco Park well enough, and the recent production at the plate has been even harder to ignore.
Through the first six games of June, San Diego had a.172/.245/.274 batting line and only five home runs. Freddy Fermin has two of them and a 1.182 OPS this month, but Jackson Merrill, Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado have each managed one homer, while Fernando Tatis Jr. is hitting.333/.360/.417 and Xander Bogaerts has gone 1-for-19 with a.234 OPS to start June.
Michael King is scheduled for one of the Padres’ starts in the series and comes in at 4-5 with a 3.41 ERA, though his last three outings have produced a 7.47 ERA and four of his eight home runs allowed. Cincinnati has seen Walker Buehler before, too; the Padres right-hander is 3-3 with a 4.53 ERA, owns a 3.00 ERA in eight starts against the Reds, and last faced them in 2024. Brady Singer and Lucas Giolito are also in line for starts in the series, adding another layer to a matchup shaped by two clubs trying to stop the same kind of drift.
