Manny Machado is at third base for a second day in a row as he works toward resuming full-time duty following his mild hip flexor strain.
Sunday’s first pitch is at 10:40 a.m.
Sunday morning baseball on deck. pic.twitter.com/HnzlendFfs
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 16, 2024
The Padres are trying to avoid being swept for the third time this season. This one would completely erase their sweep of the A’s to close the homestand and send them back to a game under .500.
Machado is 0-for-12 with six strikeouts over his last three games and is hitting .244/.303/.364 with just six homers on the season.
He DH’d his first four games back from the hip injury and had two hits in each of his first two games before the recent cold snap.
Donovan Solano served as the DH on Saturday.
On Sunday, with a right-hander on the mound for the Mets, David Peralta is getting his first start in a week, but it’s coming in left field as Jurickson Profar will serve as the DH for a half-day off following Tuesday’s knee scare.
Peralta will bat seventh behind rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill, who has homers in three straight games, beginning with the two-homer game on Wednesday.
Peralta is hitting .229/.325/.286 in 40 plate appearances with the Padres and was 0-for-3 off the bench over the past week.
Peralta is hitting .286/.394/.357 when he starts games.
Here is how the Mets will line up for the finale:
Sunday series finale. #LGM pic.twitter.com/2HBkIf5aRA
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 16, 2024
Sunday’s pitching matchup
Padres RHP Dylan Cease (6-5, 3.36 ERA)
He’s coming off his first win since May 8, as he struck out eight over six innings of one-run ball in beating the Athletics on Monday. Cease’s 1.00 WHIP through 83 innings is well below his career WHIP (1.27). In his only appearance against the Mets, Cease allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in seven innings in a loss in 2019.
Here is how Cease has fared against current Mets:
Mets RHP Tylor Megill (1-3, 3.51 ERA)
The brother of Brewers closer Trevor Megill, a former Padres draftee, the younger Megill has gone deeper than five innings just once in five starts and has allowed six earned runs over his last 9⅔ innings. Megill beat the Padres last year, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks in five innings in New York.
Here’s how Megill has fared against current Padres:
