• Friday: 5:10 p.m. (Padres.TV)
• Saturday: 4:10 p.m. (Padres.TV, FS1)
• Sunday: 4:10 p.m. (ESPN)

In the standings

San Diego Padres (15-4, 1st in NL West)

The Padres have the majors’ best record and are 1½ games up on the Dodgers in the division. The Padres’ plus-37 run differential is the best in the majors. They are 12-1 at home and 3-3 on the road. The Padres took two of three against the Astros last year in San Diego.

Houston Astros (8-10, 5th in AL West)

Minus Alex Bregman (free agent) and Kyle Tucker (trade), the Astros are already 3½ games off the Rangers’ pace in the division. Houston ranks 26th in batting average, 27th in slugging and 21st in ERA (3.73)—a far cry from a team that’s riding a string of eight straight playoff appearances.

Trending

San Diego: OF Fernando Tatis Jr. has four home runs in his last six games (1.193 OPS), equally the power production from the rest of the team over that stretch. INF Jose Iglesias is hitting .333/.391/.476 over that stretch, while part-time DH Yuli Gurriel is 1-for-11 over the last week. SS Xander Bogaerts has also slowed lately, hitting .150/.292/.200 over the last week.

Houston: 3B Isaac Paredes has three homers and six RBIs over his last six game (1.051 OPS). The only other regulars over .700 over that stretch are DH Yordan Alvarez (1 HR, .898 OPS), SS Jeremy Pena (1 HR, .775 OPS) and C Yanier Díaz (1 HR, .714 OPS). Meantime, Jose Altuve, now an outfielder, is hitting .227/.217/.273 over his last six games and new 1B Christian Walker is hitting .117/.417/.177 in that same window. The Astros also rank last in the majors with a 4% caught stealing rate (1-of-25), something to watch as the Padres lead the majors with an 89% success rate (24-for-27).

Houston Astros starting pitcher Ryan Gusto (67) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)

Pitching matchups

Friday

Padres LHP Kyle Hart (2-0, 5.40 ERA)  |   He has a 1.64 ERA in two starts so far at home and did not get out of the first inning in his one start away from Petco Park (67.50 ERA). Hart also is allowing an .895 OPS against righties this year (35 plate appearances) and a .182 OPS against lefties (11 plate appearances). No current Astros have history with Hart, who is in the majors for the first time since 2020.

Astros RHP Ryan Gusto (1-1, 3.00 ERA)  |  The 26-year-old rookie has a 15-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first 12 innings in the majors, which includes eight innings in relief (1.13 ERA) and allowing three runs in four innings in his first start on Saturday against the Angels. An 11th-round pick in 2019, Gusto had a 4.31 ERA over four years in the minors (363 IP).

Saturday

Padres RHP Michael King (3-0, 2.42 ERA)  |  He threw a career-high 110 pitches in his first complete game last week. King struck out eight and scattered two hits and one walk throughout the shutout. He struck out seven over seven innings of two-run ball in a no-decision last year against the Astros.

Astros RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-1, 4.00 ERA)  |   Part of the return from the Cubs for OF Kyle Tucker, the 27-year-old Houston native struck out a career-high 10 batters in his last start (6 IP, 3 ER), his longest yet this season. Wesneski has allowed four runs in 11 innings over two starts against the Padres (1-1), including a quality start (6 IP, 3 ER) in a no-decision last year.

Sunday

Padres RHP Dylan Cease (1-1, 6.64 ERA)  |   He has a 10.24 ERA in two starts since throwing his lone quality start of the season on April 6. Allowing 10.6 hits per nine innings is well above his career rate (7.5 per 9). Cease has a 3.32 ERA in seven career starts against the Astros, including 8 ⅔ shutout innings of two-hit ball in a win last year in one of his finest starts of the season.

Astros LHP Framber Valdez (1-2, 4.50 ERA)  |  A 15-win season (2.91 ERA) placed him seventh in AL Cy Young voting last year and he finished as high as fifth in 2022 (17-6, 2.82 ERA). The seven earned runs he allowed in his last start (4 IP) was one shy of his career high. Valdez is 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA in three career starts against the Padres, including seven innings of one-run ball in a heads-up loss to Cease.

2025 clubhouse leaders

• OPS: Padres—OF Jackson Merrill (1.090), OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (1.048), 3B Manny Machado (.914); Astros—OF Jose Altuve (.788), 3B Isaac Paredes (.732), DH Yordan Alvarez (.695).
• Homers: Padres—Tatis (6), Merrill (3), several tied with 2; Astros—Altuve (3), Paredes (3), SS Jeremy Pena (3).
• RBIs: Padres—Tatis (14), Merrill (10), DH Gavin Sheets (10); Astros—Paredes (10), Alvarez (10), Altuve (7), Pena (7).
• Steals: Padres—Tatis (6), Machado (6), SS Xander Bogaerts (4); Astros—OF Jake Meyer (6), Pena (4), Altuve (3).
• Saves: Padres—RHP Robert Suarez (8, 0.00 ERA), LHP Adrián Morejón (1, 0.96 ERA); Astros—LHP Josh Hader (4, 1.00 ERA), LHP Steven Okert (1, 1.00 ERA).
• Holds: Padres—RHP Jason Adam (7, 0.87 ERA), RHP Jeremiah Estrada (5, 0.87 ERA), LHP Wandy Peralta (2, 1.08 ERA), Morejón (2); Astros—RHP Bryan Abreu (5, 3.52 ERA), LHP Bryan King (4, 0.00 ERA), several tied with 1.

Training room

San Diego: The Padres top center fielders on the depth chart — Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge — are both on the injured list with hamstring injuries and did not join the team on the road trip. 2B Jake Cronenworth is also on the injured list with a non-displaced rib fracture. RHP Yu Darvish (elbow) is playing catch off the mound, while both RHPs Sean Reynolds (foot) and Bryan Hoeing (shoulder) have thrown bullpens in San Diego to begin to accelerate throwing programs. Meanwhile, RHP Matt Waldron (oblique) was moved to the 60-day injured list last week as he’s only begun playing catch.

Houston: RHP Forrest Whitley (knee) could return from his rehab assignment this weekend, while RHP Lance McCullers Jr. could return from flexor tendon surgery before the end of the month. The Astros staff is also without RHP Shawn Dubin (shoulder), RHP Kaleb Ort (oblique), RHP Spencer Arrighetti (thumb), RHP Luis Garcia (Tommy John), RHP Cristian Javier (Tommy John) and RHP J.P. France (shoulder). Two outfielders are also on the 10-day injured list: Taylor Trammell (calf) and Pedro Leon (knee).

Originally Published: April 18, 2025 at 12:01 PM PDT