Padres pregame: Pierce Johnson to start bullpen game; Adam Frazier in clean-up spot

After snapping five-game losing streak, Padres can gain ground in wild-card race Thursday against San Francisco

Sept. 16, 2021 11:14 AM PT

The Padres signed Vince Velasquez to help them replace Blake Snell’s weekend start in St. Louis. To get them through Thursday’s 12:45 p.m. matinee in San Francisco — a spot vacated when Chris Paddack hit the injured list — they are asking Pierce Johnson to start a bullpen game in his old stomping grounds.

Johnson, who spent the 2018 season with the Giants, is 3-3 with a 2.98 ERA, 67 strikeouts and a 1.21 WHIP in 51 1/3 innings this year.

This is his second start this season as he allowed a home run in his Aug. 24 start to a bullpen game against the Dodgers.

Johnson has also allowed a run in each of his last two appearances, with a batter who singled in Johnson’s second inning of work coming around to score after the reliever exited the seventh inning Tuesday.

The Padres bullpen has allowed six earned runs in 11 1/3 innings (4.76 ERA) through the first three games of this series.

The Padres (75-70) begin the day a game behind the Cardinals (76-69) in the race for the NL’s second wild-card spot, with the two teams scheduled for three games this weekend in St. Louis. The Reds (75-71) are 1½ games out, followed by the Phillies (73-72) at three games behind.

After snapping a five-game skid on Wednesday, the Padres will again turn to Jurickson Profar in the leadoff spot and in right field over Wil Myers, who is out of the lineup for a second straight game.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado are hitting second and third, respectively, for the third straight game, while Adam Frazier is starting in the clean-up spot for the first time in his career.

Frazier is slugging just .296 in 41 games since joining the Padres, but he was 4-for-5 with a two-run double on Wednesday and is a .304/.303/.435 hitter in 24 career plate appearances against Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman (14-5, 2.65 ERA).

The Giants' Kevin Gausman vs. current Padres

A first-time All-Star, Gausman is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 18 strikeouts and a 0.895 WHIP in three starts (19 IP) this year against the Padres. He has a 4.55 ERA since the All-Star break, up from 1.73 in the first half.

Before the game, the Giants recalled left-hander Sammy Long from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned out right-hander Jay Jackson.

Here is the Giants’ lineup: