Edwin Jackson will try to build off his best start of the season on Friday night when the Chicago Cubs play the second contest of a four-game series with the San Diego Padres.
Jackson has given up just four runs over his last three starts and evened his season record at 3-3 with a 3.98 earned run average following a game versus Milwaukee on Saturday.
The right-hander hurled seven scoreless frames of four-hit ball, striking out a season-high 11 batters to just one walk in a 3-0 win.
Jackson benefited from an early lead as Chicago plated all three of its runs in the first inning.
"We were able to come out and get some early runs on the board," said Jackson. "When we got that lead all I was thinking was to hold the lead, have fun, relax and just hold it."
The Cubs would love to give the 30-year-old Jackson another early advantage tonight given that he is winless in his career versus the Padres, going 0-4 with a 5.93 ERA in 10 meetings, including eight starts.
With Robbie Erlin hitting the disabled list because of an elbow injury, the Padres will give right-handed long reliever Tim Stauffer the 71st start of his career and first in the majors since 2012.
Stauffer went 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 43 appearances last season and is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA through 12 outings this year. He last pitched on Sunday, when he hurled three innings versus Colorado.
The 31-year-old Stauffer is 0-2 despite a 1.85 ERA in five previous meetings with the Cubs, including three starts.
Chicago kicked off its 10-game road trip in winning fashion on Thursday night, rolling to a 5-1 win behind Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer and a solid outing by Jake Arrieta.
"If you hit a ball well, if you get it, you're going to get it here," Rizzo said of the spacious Petco Park. "It's nice not having to take batting practice here every day."
Junior Lake added an RBI double and Arrieta struck out seven and yielded just one run over six innings to secure his first win of the season.
Chicago has now followed up a 2-10 stretch by winning four of five, while San Diego lost its fourth in a row.
The Padres were without manager Bud Black, who traveled to his daughter's college graduation at the University of Maryland and is expected back for Saturday's game. Bench coach Dave Roberts filled in and was hoping to get more from his offense, especially after Seth Smith hit a solo homer in the first inning.
"We get seven hits and didn't really stress Arrieta much," Roberts said. "Just couldn't put hits together."
Eric Stults yielded five runs on six hits over 4 2/3 frames for San Diego.
The Padres won four of seven last season versus the Cubs, winning two of three at home.
[SportsNetwork.com]
