SAN DIEGO PADRES GAME INFORMATION PETCO PARK 100 PARK BLVD SAN DIEGO, CA 92101 PROVIDED BY THE PADRES COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT KANSAS CITY ROYALS (14-16) vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES (14-18) Monday, May 5, 2014 • 7:10 p.m. • Petco Park • San Diego, CA RHP Yordano Ventura (2-1, 1.50) vs. LHP Eric Stults (1-3, 5.34) Game 33 • Home Game 17 • 1090 AM • XEMO 860 • FOX Sports San Diego PADRES AT A GLANCE All Padres game information including game notes and rosters is available at http://padrespressbox.com. Overall Record: 14-18 MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME: Today marks the fourth game of a 10-game homestand at Petco Park for the Padres, as NL West Standing: 4th (-6.5) they now welcome the Kansas City Royals to “America’s Finest City” for a three-game, Interleague series...the Friars Home Record: 8-8 fi rst welcomed the Arizona Diamondbacks to town over the weekend for a three game series (1-2) and will cap-off the Road Record: 6-10 homestand with a four-game series with the Miami Marlins (Thurs-Sun)...the 10-game homestand is the second of four Day Record: 5-5 lengthy homestands this season, with the next two ten-gamers coming August 25-September 4 (MIL/LAD/ARI) and Night Record: 9-13 September 15-24 (PHI/SF/COL)...from now until June 8, 21 of the Friars’ next 33 games are at home. Homestand: 1-2 ROSTER MOVE: This afternoon the Padres announced they have recalled INF/OF Kyle Blanks from Triple-A El Paso Last Five Games: 1-4 and have designated INF/OF Xavier Nady for assignment. Last 10 Games: 4-6 • Blanks, 27, was hitting .265/.364/.651 (22-for-83) with fi ve doubles, nine home runs and 20 RBI in 27 games for Streak: W1 the Chihuahuas at the time of his recall...his nine home runs were tied for the fourth-most in all of Minor League Baseball and tied for second-most in the Pacifi c Coast League. All-Time Record: 3,335-3,861 • Blanks owns a career .228/.312/.404 line with 36 doubles, 28 home runs and 98 RBI in 234 Major League All-Time at Home: 1,799-1,801 games over parts of fi ve Big League seasons. All-Time at Petco Park: 430-396 • Nady, 35, appeared in 22 games for the Padres this season, six starts, and was hitting .135/.238/.405 (5-for-37) All-Time on the Road: 1,536-2,060 with three home runs and four RBI. 2011 vs. KC: 3-0 RARELY ROYAL: Today the Padres will welcome the Kansas City Royals to Petco Park for the fi rst game of a three- 2011 vs. KC at Home: 3-0 game set against KC...this will be the fi rst meeting between the two franchises since the Friars earned a three game 2011 vs. KC on Road: 0-0 sweep over the Royals in downtown San Diego from June 27-29, 2011...overall, this is the fourth all-time meeting All-Time vs. KC: 7-2 between these two clubs. All-Time vs. KC at Petco Park: 6-0 • Overall, the Padres own a commanding all-time 7-2 record against the Royals, including a perfect 6-0 mark at All-Time vs. KC at Kauffman Stadium: 1-2 home (also a three game sweep from July 2-4, 2004) and a 1-2 mark in Kansas City (June 28-30, 2002). • Entering the game today, the Padres have won six consecutive games against the Royals dating back to July All-Time vs. KC in San Diego: 6-0 2, 2004...during the six-game winning streak, the Friars as a team have hit .311/.359/.492 (60-for-193) with 15 doubles, six home runs and have averaged 5.2 runs per game. • The pitching staff has found success against the Royals during the current six-game winning streak, pitching to RECORD WHEN... a 6-0 record with fi ve saves with a 2.67 ERA (16 ER, 54.0 IP) and 55 strikeouts against 10 walks. Sunday 5-1 Thursday 1-1 Monday 2-1 Friday 2-3 INTERLEAGUE PLAY: Tonight’s game will open the third of eight series for the Padres this season against an Tuesday 1-4 Saturday 1-4 American League opponent...in six games this season against the AL, the Friars have posted a 3-3 record having Wednesday 2-4 lost two of three against the Indians in Cleveland and taking two of three against Detroit at Petco Park. • The Padres are slated to play the American League Central this season and have games remaining with Kansas March 1-0 July 0-0 City (tonight-Wed), vs. Minnesota (May 20-21), at Chicago-AL (May 30-June 1), at Seattle (June 16-17), vs. April 12-16 August 0-0 Seattle (June 18-19) and at Minnesota (August 5-6) May 1-2 September 0-0 • Since Interleague Play began in 1997, the Padres are 122-158 against the American League, including a 64-76 June 0-0 October 0-0 mark at home. Leading after six 9-1 FAST AND SLOW: Today’s pitching match-up between Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura and San Diego’s Eric Stults Tied after six: 2-0 will feature the two extremes of the radar gun...according to Baseball Prospectus, among starting pitchers, Ventura is Trailing after six: 3-17 the owner of the highest average velocity pitch in the Majors this season with his 97.58 mph four seam fastball while Leading after seven: 9-0 Stults is the owner of the slowest average velocity pitch, his 66.90 mph curveball (min 30 pitches thrown). Tied after seven: 3-0 Trailing after seven: 2-18 STULTS DE MAYO: Tonight marks Eric Stults’ fi rst start of Eric Stults, 2012-2014 Leading after eight: 11-0 May this season coming off an April that brought him a 1-3 APRIL MAY Tied after eight: 3-0 record with a 5.34 ERA (17 ER, 28.2 IP). W-L 3-5 3-3 Trailing after eight: 0-18 • Over the course of his career, Stults owns a a 5-6 re- cord with a 5.50 ERA (45 ER, 73.2 IP) during March/ ERA 5.50 2.76 (20 ER, 65.1 IP) Scoring fi rst: 8-3 April, his worst statistical month(s) of his career...in Opp Avg .313 .228 Opponents score fi rst: 6-15 contrast, Stults has shown drastic improvement dur- HR/9 .178 0.28 (2 HR/65.1 IP) Shutouts: 1-5 ing the month of May, posting a career 5-4 mark with a 3.22 ERA (33. 92.1 IP), his 2nd-best ERA of any Home crowds of 20,000+: 6-6 month (2.84 in June). Home crowds of 30,000+: 5-2 • In six starts for the Padres during May of 2013, posted a 2-2 record with a 2.66 ERA (12 ER, 40.2 IP), limiting Home crowds of 40,000+: 2-1 the opposition to a .226 average with 29 strikeouts against 13 walks. Scoring less than three: 3-14 KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE: Through 32 games this season, the Padres have played in 22 contests decided by Scoring three or four: 7-3 two runs or less (12-10), the most such games by a Major League team this season...additionally, the Padres have Scoring fi ve or more: 4-1 played 12 games this season decided by one run or less, the sixth-most in the Majors. One-run games: 6-6 • The Friars have played to this mark despite playing one of the most diffi cult schedules to open up the season, Two-run games: 6-4 having played 26 of their 32 games this season against teams with a .500 record or better (12-14), the Games decided in last AB: 5-0 third-highest total in all of Major League Baseball. Extra Innings W-L: 2-0 • Entering play today, 21 of the Padres next 28 games are against teams that own a record .500 or worse. Playing series opener: 6-4 ABOUT THE PITCHING: Through 32 games this season the Padres pitching staff has posted a 3.17 ERA (100 ER, Playing series fi nale: 5-5 284.0 IP), 244 strikeouts, 85 walks and a .244 opponents average. • The overall team ERA ranks seventh-best in Major League Baseball and tied for sixth-best in the National Series W-L-T (Home): 2-2-1 League. Series W-L-T (Road): 0-4-1 • However, the Padres have the lowest run support average in Major League Baseball, scoring just 2.66 runs per Series W-L-T (Total): 2-6-2 game in support of their pitching staff. Series Sweeps (Home): 0-0 BULL(Y)PEN: The Padres bullpen has been very solid in relief all season, posting a 5-0 record with a 1.71 ERA Series Sweeps (Road): 0-0 (18 ER, 94.2 IP) and an opponents average of .198 in 31 games so far this season, the best ERA in the Majors Series Sweeps (Total): 0-0 and the second-best opponents average (San Francisco, .194). White Jerseys: 4-5 • With a 5-0 record this season, the Padres bullpen is the only unit in Major League Baseball to have not suffered Gray Jerseys: 4-7 a loss this season...additionally, the Padres lead the Majors with a 91.7 save percentage (11-for-12).