Stumbling Padres hope set with skidding Marlins can spark turnaround

The San Diego Padres continue to invest heavily in their roster, but they still haven't seen many dividends.

After dropping five of seven coming out of the All-Star break to match their low mark on the season at three games under .500, the Padres will try to turn things around when they continue their 10-game road trip against the slumping Miami Marlins on Friday night.

"Given the time of year, we know where we're at," Padres first baseman Ty France said after a 6-5 loss against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday afternoon. "It's a weird spot to be in. Basically, if we want to go where we want to go and put the front office in position to do what (general manager) A.J. (Preller) typically does, we need to win some baseball games. We're not doing that right now."

The Padres own one of the top 10 payrolls in the major leagues, but they sit four games back in the NL wild-card race.

The Marlins, with the lowest payroll in the majors, still own a better record than the Padres despite losing their first six games coming out of the All-Star break and nine straight overall.

San Diego had the daunting task of facing former Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on Thursday and rattled him with three runs in the second inning but couldn't add on until France's two-run homer in the eighth made it a one-run deficit.

"A lot of positive things from our offense against one of the best pitchers in all of baseball," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "Pitching has got to pick up our offense in that situation."

San Diego plans to start German Marquez in the series opener on Friday.

Marquez (4-2, 5.24 ERA) is 1-0 in four starts this month with a 4.20 ERA.

The right-hander was limited to three-plus innings in his most recent outing, a 19-2 road win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. He departed with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth and the Padres leading 7-2 before the bullpen blanked the Royals the rest of the way.

Marquez has made eight starts against the Marlins in his career, going 4-3 with a 5.09 ERA.

The Marlins had a day off on Thursday to try to regroup. They lost 5-2 to the host Houston Astros on Wednesday to complete their 0-6 road trip.

"We've been playing way different than the first half," Miami ace Sandy Alcantara said. "I think we've got to put things together and find a way to put ourselves in that situation that we were in the first half. This is baseball, someday you win 20 and someday you lose 25. We've got to keep fighting together."

Esteury Ruiz started in center field in place of Jakob Marsee on Wednesday and went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases. Miami manager Clayton McCullough expects to use that lineup more often in the second half.

"He's been a really fantastic spark for us," McCullough said of Ruiz. "He's come off the bench and done a lot of great things. When he's gotten chances to start, he's done things like (Wednesday). He's certainly a threat on the bases."

Miami was undecided on its starting pitcher for the series opener as of Thursday night.

--Field Level Media