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The San Diego Padres’ push toward a playoff spot begins Friday against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium to open the second half of the season. <\/p>\n
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San Diego currently holds a record of 48-48 on the season, sitting 3.5 games back of the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Padres are heading out on a nine-game road trip that will show the front office a lot about what this team is made of, and ultimately determine their fate.<\/p>\n
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If the Padres come away with a winning road trip, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller will likely push the chips<\/a> in at the trade deadline. However, if they falter, the team could turn into sellers<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Royals enter this game with a record of 39-58, currently slotted in last place in the American League Central. Playing Kansas City could offer the Padres a chance to get the road trip off to a good start, helping to set the tone<\/a> for the next few weeks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Padres took two of three games against the Royals at Petco Park in 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friday, July 17: RHP Michael King vs RHP Seth Lugo<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n King will get the ball to kick off the second half of the season for the Padres. The right-hander has been the most consistent pitcher<\/a> on this starting staff, sporting an ERA of 3.41 over 108.1 innings. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n San Diego needs King to put together<\/a> a strong outing again, similar to his last start. Against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last outing, King went six innings, allowing one run on four hits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Going against King will be former Padres pitcher Seth Lugo, who has an ERA of 4.56 over 104.2 innings. This could be an audition for Lugo, with the veteran right-hander being linked<\/a> to the Padres in trade rumors this summer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Saturday, July 18: RHP Griffin Canning vs TBD<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Padres will turn to Canning in the second game, who’s been used behind opener<\/a> multiple times this season. It remains to be seen if this will happen again, but it could offer the Padres an opportunity for Canning to go deeper into the game.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a troubling month of June<\/a> that saw Canning get rocked for an ERA of 6.98 over 19.1 innings, he has been better in July. The right-hander has recorded an ERA of 3.12 in 8.2 innings this month, giving hope for a better second half run.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sunday, July 19: RHP Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez vs LHP Noah Cameron<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n M\u00e1rquez gets the start in the finale for the Padres in what will be his third outing since being activated off the injured list<\/a>. The veteran has recorded an ERA of 3.75 over 12 innings since returning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overall, M\u00e1rquez owns an ERA of 5.18 in nine appearances (eight starts) this year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Royals will counter with Cameron, who has an ERA of 4.89 over 18 starts this season. Cameron will look to have a better performance than his last outing, when he allowed five runs over seven innings against the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n First pitch for Friday’s series opener is 5:10 p.m. PT\/8:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Royals.TV, FS1 and in the MLB app.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First pitch for Saturday’s game is 1:10 p.m. PT\/4:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Royals.TV and in the MLB app.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First pitch for Sunday’s series finale is 11:10 a.m. PT\/2:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV, Royals.TV and in the MLB app.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sign up for our free newsletter<\/a> and follow us on Facebook<\/a> and X\/Twitter<\/a> for the latest news<\/p>\n <\/p>\nPadres vs Royals Pitching Probables<\/h2>\n
How to Watch Padres vs Royals July 17-19<\/h2>\n