Phillies visit the Padres
The Phillies head south on their West Coast swing and open a three-game set tonight at Petco Park with the San Diego Padres. The Phillies are coming off a weekend sweep a the hands of the Dodgers and have lost four straight.

“I think we bumped up against a red-hot team," manager Gabe Kapler told reporters following Sunday's 8-0 loss. "They outplayed us. I think I said from the beginning of the series, if we're going to beat teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, we have to play our best baseball. We didn't play our best baseball in this series -- pretty much from any angle. We have better baseball in us.”

The two clubs will meet again at Citizens Bank Park for a four-game set in July.

The Padres have dropped five of their last seven contests and lost two to Miami over the weekend. Left-hander Eric Lauer will start the opener for the Padres sporting a 4-4 mark to go along with a 4.45 ERA. The Phillies counter with Aaron Nola who has gone 4-0 with a 2.96 ERA over his last five starts.

The Phillies will have Jay Bruce in uniform tonight. The 32-year-old was acquired by the club in a trade with Seattle on Sunday. He provides a left-handed bat and some much-needed outfield depth.

The Comparison
Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will forever be linked as offseason superstar signings. For comparison sake, Machado has hit .251 this year over 58 games with the Padres. He has nine homers and 27 RBIs. Meanwhile, Bryce Harper is hitting .248 through 59 games with 11 homers and 43 RBIs.

Odubel's Leave Extended
Major League Baseball announced on Monday afternoon that Odubel Herrera will remain on administrative leave until at least June 17. He has an arraignment scheduled for that same day.

Draft Day
The 2019 MLB Draft begins tonight and the Phillies have the 14th pick in the opening round. The club has selected position players with their first pick in each of the last four drafts. The last pitcher selected by the club in the opening round was Aaron Nola back in 2014.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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