Padres pregame: Sniffing NL West lead, Braves again without Acuña

The Padres begin Saturday with 21 wins, tied for the second most in the National League. In the NL West, their .636 winning percentage is just nine points behind the Dodgers (20-11), who have lost three straight, and 11 points ahead of the Giants (20-12), winners of six straight.

The top seven spots in the lineup for Saturday’s 1:10 p.m. first pitch is a carbon copy of Friday’s, with Trent Grisham returning to center field in the eighth spot and Jorge Alfaro batting ninth as the catcher.

Grisham gave way to Jose Azocar in the series opener but came off the bench and delivered a three-run double to pad the Padres’ lead, his first hit since May 6 and just his second hit since a three-hit game on May 1.

That stretch (2-for-28) has dropped Grisham’s batting line to .152/.270/.248. He has just six extra-base hits this season—one homer, two triples and three doubles.

Alfaro delivered the walk-off homer on Sunday in San Diego, but was 1-for-7 in his two starts in the Cubs series. He gets the start over Austin Nola, who is hitting .184/.267/.224 over his last 22 games (86 plate appearances).

Luke Voit, back in the five-hole for a second-straight game, is 5-for-12 with a double, two homers, two walks and four strikeouts since returning from the injured list.

Wil Myers is 4-for-13 since his returning after collecting both his first homer and three-hit game of the season on Friday.

For the Braves, they are without Ronald Acuña Jr. for a second straight game as he nurses a groin injury.

He has not played since Tuesday and has played in just 10 games (.282/.391/.487) since returning from last year’s season-ending knee injury.

Saturday’s pitching matchup

Padres LHP Sean Manaea (2-3, 3.75 ERA)

He hasn’t won since April 18 and the Padres are 0-3 in his last six starts (6.35 ERA). Opponents have a .265/.329/.456 line against Manaea over that stretch. Manaea’s lone start against Atlanta was in 2017 (7 1/3 IP, 2 ER), , so there aren’t a lot of current Braves hitters with history with Manaea:

• Guillermo Heredia (5-for-20, 2B, 2 RBIs, 3 BBs, 3 Ks)
• Travis d’Arnaud (2-for-2, RBI, BB)
• Travis Demeritte (0-for-3, 2 Ks)
• Eddie Rosario (2-for-3)
• Dansby Swanson (0-for-3, K)

Braves RHP Charlie Morton (2-3, 5.65 ERA)

“Uncle Charlie” allowed a season-high five runs in five innings in a loss at Petco Park last month. He has not finished six innings this season and has a 23-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 28 2/3 innings. Lefties have a 1.036 OPS this year against Morton compared to righties’ .602.

Here is how current Padres have fared against the 38-year-old veteran:

(Baseball-reference.com)