Padres open critical homestand with Rockies, Giants

The San Diego Padres have six games before the trade deadline on Aug. 3 and that means that each game will be critical to determine whether the team will be a buyer or a seller. The first of those six games is tonight against the Colorado Rockies, and the cellar-dwelling NL West rival would love nothing more than to take down the Padres in two games before the San Francisco Giants come to town for a four-game set.

San Diego is coming off a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins, which allowed them to catch and pass a team they are battling with for a National League Wild Card position. There is still more to do for the Padres and while the games against the Rockies will not allow them to knock off another team in front of them winning these games is still of utmost importance.

San Diego gained a half-game on the Arizona Diamondbacks without even taking the field on Monday. The hope is the momentum gained from the way the Padres finished their 5-5 road trip can continue and send them into a deadline decision with their best winning streak of the season under their belt. San Diego will have an opportunity to continue that potential streak tonight against the Rockies at Petco Park at 6:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Padres take new approach to pitching and finish road trip at .500.

• The Padres signed 20 of their 21 draft picks with one player opting to play in college.

• This could be a unique trade deadline if the Padres continue to win. which may force Preller to be creative.

Baseball News:

• Ceddanne Rafaela hit a grand slam to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Athletics.

• The New York Yankees topped the hot-hitting Chicago White Sox thanks to a single by Ben Rice in the seventh.

• The Baltimore Orioles topped the Detroit Tigers.

• Max Scherzer returned to Nationals Park and helped the Toronto Blue Jays beat his former team.

• The Miami Marlins snapped their 12-game skid with a win over the Philadelphia Philles.

• The San Francisco Giants topped the Milwaukee Brewers.

• Jameson Taillon was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs.

• The Pittsburgh Pirates got a walk-off win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.