SAN DIEGO -- One pitcher is looking forward to October. The other pitcher has very few starts remaining this season.
That's the pitching matchup Tuesday night as the Padres "host" the Cubs for the second of three games at Petco Park ... or what Cubs fans call Wrigley Field West.
Starting for the Cubs will be reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, whose 15-5 record and 2.75 earned run average in 24 starts puts him in the running for a repeat. But Arrieta says that is not his focus heading into the stretch.
"We've done very well," Arrieta said recently. "But everyone knows it's about what happens from here on out."
Starting for the Padres Tuesday night will be left-hander Christian Friedrich, who will be making the 18th start of a season that is winding down.
Yes, the Padres still have almost six weeks to go until the finish line. But they will be shutting Friedrich down any start now.
"He's already worked twice as many innings this season in a different role than he worked last year," Padres manager Andy Green said recently. "We like him. We're going to protect him."
Friedrich, 29, has a 4-9 record with a 4.69 ERA in 17 starts for the Padres since being promoted from Triple-A El Paso on May 13. He has worked 94 innings. He also worked 18 innings in the minors before joining the Padres. Last season, working out of the Colorado Rockies bullpen, Friedrich worked 58 1/3 innings in 68 appearances.
At the moment, Friedrich is a member of a six-man rotation. But Green has said the Padres will likely return to a five-man rotation with two days off in a span of five days starting Thursday.
The sixth man out in all likelihood will be Friedrich.
"I feel good," said Friedrich, "but I know the thinking."
As for Arrieta, he's on full throttle.
But he hasn't had great luck in his two previous starts at Petco Park. Arrieta is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in the Padres home, although he hasn't pitched there since 2014. Arrieta is 9-2 on the road this season with a 3.29 ERA in 12 starts.
He is also coming off one of his weaker starts. Against the Brewers on Aug. 18, Arrieta issued a career-high seven walks and gave up and allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings. He still collected his 15th win in the Cubs 9-6 victory.
Arrieta's 2.75 ERA ranks fifth in the National League, just ahead of Jon Lester's 2.81 mark after Monday night.
Arrietta leads the major leagues with a .186 opponents' batting average and figures to be facing five, and possibly six, left-handed hitters Tuesday night, including switch-hitters Yangervis Solarte and Luis Sardinas on the left side of the Padres infield. Recently, the Padres have been using the left-handed Brett Wallace at first in some games against right-handed pitchers with first baseman Wil Myers moving to right.
Sardinas, who was promoted from Triple-A El Paso Monday, will be making his first start at shortstop for the Padres and is expected to make the majority of the starts at short for the rest of the season as the Padres cut back on the starts make by former Chicago White Sox Alexei Ramirez.
