Up-and-coming Padres and Red Sox aim for more in Interleague Series

Two teams that have been playing better recently meet on Friday when the San Diego Padres visit the Boston Red Sox to open a three-game series.

The Padres have won three straight games and capped a 6-1 home sweep with an 8-5 victory over Washington on Wednesday. The Red Sox won three of their last four and eight of their last 10 games before Wednesday’s game against Toronto was postponed because of rain.

The Red Sox have been aggressive on the basepaths this season – Boston ranks second in the American League with 78 stolen bases – and manager Alex Cora said he would like to see the organization be aggressive at the trade deadline as well. Boston has done little to improve the team at the 2022 and 2023 trade deadlines.

“Honestly, we haven’t gotten better,” he said. “We’ve just stayed the same and the teams around us have gotten better. I can walk you through the trade deadline the way I see it. There are three ways: you buy, you sell, you stay where you are. If you stay, you’re going to find teams that are better than you. It’s not that your team was a bad team, but the others around you have gotten better.”

The Red Sox begin the weekend by hosting Baltimore and the New York Yankees in the American League East, but both division rivals are struggling.

“Hey, let’s get greedy,” Cora said. “There are teams ahead of us that aren’t playing good baseball. … Let’s not settle for the third wild card, let’s go higher and see where the season takes us.”

Catcher Kyle Higashioka and starting pitcher Dylan Cease were the stars of San Diego’s win over Washington on Wednesday. Higashioka hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and Cease struck out nine players in seven scoreless innings.

With this win, the Padres were able to outscore the Nationals in three games after winning three of four games against Milwaukee. Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth called it the best series of games the team has played all season.

“We started every game with a lot of energy,” Cease said. “Even when we were behind, the offense came back. Two really great series.”

The Padres are battling a number of injuries. Former Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has been on the injured list since breaking his shoulder while diving for a ball on May 20. Bogaerts is traveling to Boston and hopes to return in early July.

In addition, San Diego announced earlier this week that outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. will be out until after the All-Star break due to a stress reaction in the femur of his right leg.

“We’ll figure it out,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “I talk about this quite a bit: winners find solutions. That’s something we’ve been able to do for the most part all year. We’ve had some adversity. There’s going to be adversity in this game. … Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to step up and play the games.”

The pitchers’ meeting on Friday will feature two right-handers: Nick Pivetta (4-4, 4.06 ERA) from Boston and Randy Vasquez (2-4, 5.10 ERA) from San Diego.

Pivetta is 0-3 with a 5.57 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against the Padres. Vasquez’s only appearance against Boston was a start with the Yankees last year. He allowed two runs on three hits and had three strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

–Field level media