Padres flip to JP Sears to assist rotation vs. Rockies

Even with time running out in their quest to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs to earn home-field advantage for the first round of the National League playoffs, the San Diego Padres are taking a big-picture look at the regular season’s last 15 games.

The Padres will call up JP Sears from Triple-A El Paso to start Friday night against the visiting Colorado Rockies, giving their other starters an extra day of rest that they feel will help them in their quest to start the playoffs at home.

Manager Mike Shildt noted that starting Sears is equal parts confidence in the left-hander acquired from the Athletics at the trade deadline and helping manage the workload for veterans such as Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease.

“We know we’re keeping everybody in a position where they can go out and go pitch and dominate like a starter should,” Shildt said.

Sears (8-10, 5.01 ERA) has made three starts for San Diego, going 1-1 with a 5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings. This will be his first start for the Padres since Aug. 25 in Seattle, where he gave up four runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings during a no-decision.

Sears is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in two career starts against Colorado, including a 7-4 victory on April 5 in Denver, when he fired 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball.

Teammate Randy Vasquez left him a high bar to clear with his outing Thursday night. The right-hander fanned a career-high nine over six shutout innings in a 2-0 victory that pulled the Padres (80-67) within 2 1/2 games of Los Angeles in the NL West and within 3 1/2 games of Chicago for the first wild-card spot.

The Padres are 8-2 against the Rockies this year with five shutouts, four of them in San Diego. While the Padres’ offense didn’t do much Thursday night, it did get three hits from Luis Arraez and a solo homer from Jackson Merrill, his second in five games.

“He’s playing like he’s capable of, and that’s a big boost for us,” Shildt said of Merrill.

Tanner Gordon (5-6, 6.60 ERA) gets the ball for Colorado, hoping for a better performance than he offered in an 8-1 home loss against the Padres on Sunday. The right-hander was rocked for six hits (including three homers) and six runs over 3 2/3 innings, walking one and whiffing five. Gordon is 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA in two career starts against San Diego.

The Rockies enter this one with a six-game losing streak that has seen the offense mostly flounder against the division’s best teams. Aside from a 10-8 loss to the Padres on Saturday, Colorado has managed four runs total in the other five games. The Rockies haven’t scored a run since Tuesday night.

And injuries might make winning even tougher for the club. It was learned Thursday that rookie right-hander Chase Dollander, who at times has looked like a future ace, will hit the injured list with a knee injury and likely will miss the season’s remainder.

Dollander is 2-12 with a 6.52 ERA but flashed immense potential Monday night in his latest outing He held the Dodgers to one run and one hit in five-plus innings, fanning Shohei Ohtani twice.

“I truly think I have the mentality — the stuff, the everything — to be the best pitcher in the world,” he said, according to MLB.com.

–Field Level Media