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Hurting Padres begin weekend set with Reds

Thu 22nd, May 2008

(Sports Network) - Not only did the Padres lose their last series, but some key players as well. Randy Wolf will lead San Diego's suddenly injured- riddled rotation in tonight's opener of a four-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at Petco Park.

The Padres began a 10-game homestand by dropping two of three to the Cardinals, and not only lost Wednesday's finale by an 11-3 count, but also starting pitcher Chris Young and catcher Josh Bard to injury.

Young (4-4) exited early after taking a liner to the face off the bat of the Cardinals' Albert Pujols in the third inning. He suffered a nasal fracture and laceration on his nose.

Bard suffered a high ankle sprain after a collision with Pujols in the same inning and will likely land on the disabled list.

San Diego will keep a big eye on Young's injury, especially after placing ace Jake Peavy on the DL Tuesday due to a strained flexor muscle in his right arm.

The Padres are giving the starting assignment to Wolf tonight in hopes he can halt a three-start losing skid. Wolf, who is 0-4 over his last five outings, hasn't won since April 20 in Arizona and was bested by Seattle on Saturday. The left-hander gave up three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, but was on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision.

Tonight will mark Wolf's first home start in his last five outings, and he is 1-1 with a 3.18 earned run average at Petco Park this year. Overall, Wolf is 2-4 with a 5.05 ERA on the season.

The lefty has made 12 career starts against the Reds and is 6-2 with a 3.26 ERA against them.

In yesterday's loss, Adrian Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a two-run, first-inning homer and finished with three RBI. Jody Gerut and Scott Hairston each totaled two hits for the Padres, who have lost 11 of their last 12 series and 14 of their last 20 games overall.

The Reds also come into this set stumbling a bit. After a perfect 6-0 homestand that gave the club its longest winning streak of the season, Cincinnati was swept in three games by the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The Reds scored eight runs in the series and fell to 7-17 on the road this season.

In Wednesday's finale, a 5-2 setback for the Reds, Johnny Cueto (2-5) was charged with seven hits and four runs -- two earned -- over five innings. Edwin Encarnacion and Joey Votto each drove in a run in defeat.

Reds infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. left the game in the bottom of the first inning due to dizziness.

Adam Dunn went 1-for-2 with a run scored for Cincinnati and is on seven-game hit streak. Dunn is batting .429 (9-for-21) over his run but has gone without a homer in back-to-back games after going deep in five straight. He is hitting .304 (7-for-23) with a homer, two RBI and eight strikeouts in his career against Wolf.

Aaron Harang starts for the Reds and is 2-5 with a 3.12 ERA on the year. After halting a five-start winless stretch (0-4) on May 12 with a victory over Florida, the right-hander didn't factor into the decision of his team's 4-2 win on Saturday against the Indians. Harang allowed just one run on eight hits over seven innings, but left the game with the score tied at 1-1.

Harang is 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA in six career starts against the Padres.

Tonight marks the first meeting of the season between the Padres and Reds. San Diego has won four of six against Cincinnati in each of the last two seasons.

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