Miami's Urena looks to end streak versus Padres (May 30, 2018)
SAN DIEGO -- Eventually, the "streak" has to end for Jose Urena.
And the Marlins' right-hander is hoping it will be sooner... like maybe Wednesday night at Petco Park in the third contest of a four-game series between the struggling Marlins and Padres.
The Marlins have lost all 11 games that Urena has started this season. And going back to last Sept. 26, Miami has lost 13 straight Urena starts.
That is a franchise record for futility -- the longest stretch of losses in an individual pitcher's starts. The old mark was 12 straight losses by the Marlins when Brian Moehler started in 2005-2006.
It's not all the fault of Urena, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of the Dominican Republic. His 4.69 ERA is more respectable than his 0-7 record. But when the 26-year-old starts, the Marlins have given him only 2.84 runs of support on average -- the lowest mark in the National League among pitchers with 10 or more starts.
In fact, between April 27 and May 15, Urena had a 2.84 ERA over the span of four starts. But he has allowed four earned runs in each of his past two outings with a 6.00 ERA. Needless to say, both games resulted in Miami losses.
Wednesday night, Urena draws veteran Padres left-hander Clayton Richard as his opponent. Richard is 3-6 with a 4.97 ERA. Richard is also in something of a tailspin, going 2-5 in his last seven outings. Overall, the Padres are 4-8 when he pitches.
"Jose shouldn't be 0-7 and we shouldn't be 0-11 when he pitches," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "He's pitched better than that. Sometimes, these things just happen."
Urena will be making his third career start against the Padres on Wednesday. And he hasn't had much success against them, although he hasn't faced San Diego since Aug. 27, 2016.
Urena is 0-2 against the Padres with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Padres are hitting .293 against Urena, who has allowed six runs (five earned) to San Diego on 12 hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. Both those starts were in Miami.
Richard, 34, has a 3-2 record with a 2.79 ERA in six career starts against the Marlins with a 1.37 WHIP and a .283 opponents' batting average. Against Miami, Richard has given up 12 runs on 43 hits and 10 walks with 29 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings.
Perhaps a more meaningful statistic to consider on Richard is his results inside and outside the National League West this season.
In five starts against teams from outside the National League West this season, Richard has allowed 11 runs on 31 hits and five walks with 28 strikeouts in 37 innings, posting a 2.68 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Richard has not allowed a home run outside the division.
However, in six starts against National League West teams this season, Richard has given up 27 runs (26 earned) on 37 hits and 19 walks with 28 strikeouts in 30 innings, posting a 7.80 ERA and 1.87 WHIP. He has given up eight homers to teams from the NL West.
