Unser Chat » Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks

SAN DIEGO — There will be a double homecoming Friday night at Petco Park.

Right-hander Joe Musgrove Will Harris Jersey , who was born and raised 20 minutes east of San Diego in El Cajon, will be facing the Padres for the first time as the starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

And the Padres will also be back in San Diego for only the third game since June 6. This is also a brief respite. After three games at home this weekend against the Pirates, the Padres hit the road again for six games before returning home on July 9.

A quick check of the math. Between June 6 and July 9, the Padres will play only five games at home against 23 on the road in a span of 32 days.

“I’ve never seen a schedule like this,” said Padres manager Andy Green, whose club is coming off a 2-5 road trip to San Francisco and Texas.

Starting for the Padres Friday will be left-handed rookie Eric Lauer. Like Musgrove, Lauer is a former first-round draft pick.

Musgrove is one of three Pirates pitchers from San Diego County. Trevor Williams will start Saturday night’s game. And Steven Brault, who was a teammate of Musgrove at Grossmont High in 2010, is in the Pirates’ bullpen.

Musgrove, 25, was the 46th overall pick of the 2011 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Lauer, 23, was the 25th overall pick of the Padres in the 2016 draft.

Musgrove is 2-3 with a 4.59 earned run average in six starts for the Pirates this season. Lauer is 3-4 with a 5.05 ERA in 12 starts for the Padres

Although Musgrove will be facing the Padres for the first time, Lauer made a start against the Pirates earlier this season in Pittsburgh. On May 17, the Pirates scored four runs off Lauer on six hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.

In seven starts since, the 6-foot-3 http://www.lionscheapstore.com/austin-bryant-jersey-cheap , 227-pound Lauer is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA. Meanwhile, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Musgrove has struggled recently. He is 0-3 in June with a 7.45 ERA, and he gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings in his most recent start against Arizona on Saturday.

Lauer has lowered his ERA in each of his last five starts and has given up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts over 12 innings in his last two starts.

Lauer and rookie teammate Joey Lucchesi are two of the first three pitchers to reach the major leagues from the 2016 draft. Lauer was promoted to the Padres from Triple-A El Paso on April 24.

“We expected there would be growing pains with Lauer,” Green said recently. “Two years ago, he was pitching once a week in college (Kent State). Last year, he and Joey were working with five days’ rest between starts. This is an adjustment, being in a five-man rotation. His jump recently has come with blending in his secondary pitches as well as having better command of his fastball.”

Javier Baez put on a show for the Chicago Cubs and appeared to nail his audition for a high-profile role later this summer.

Baez hit two home runs, including a grand slam, Jon Lester won his sixth consecutive start and the Cubs ended a five-game losing streak with a 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

Baez homered in consecutive innings, giving him 16 on the season, and finished with four hits. He hit a solo shot off Dodgers starter Ross Stripling in the fifth inning and his bases-loaded shot in the sixth into the Dodgers’ bullpen came against reliever Edward Paredes.

And he did all of his damage in front of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who just happens to be the National League’s manager in the All-Star Game next month.

”I have been saying for a couple of years, the moment he stops swinging at sliders in the dirt, he becomes Manny Ramirez . and he’s getting closer,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Baez. ”And I think he is a better defender than Manny was . and baserunner. And Manny http://www.packerscheapstore.com/rashan-gary-jersey-cheap , I still love you.”

Baez said he was inspired to play at Dodger Stadium, but not necessarily because Roberts was watching him from the top step.

”I love it here,” Baez said. ”The (Dodgers) fans are pretty close to ours. I like playing here and I like the energy they have for their team. This is a team we will see for a long time, hopefully in the playoffs, and it is always going to be a good competition.”

Stripling gave up just one run over five innings before the Cubs broke open the game with six runs off the bullpen. Yimi Garcia (1-2) gave up three of them. The Dodgers lost for just the sixth time in 22 games in June.

”I think they’re a really good lineup,” Stripling said. ”Obviously Lester on the mound makes them good, too. I think they’re a good benchmark for us to see how we’re playing.”

It was Baez’s fourth multi-homer game and his second this season. His grand slam was the fourth of his career.

Lester (10-2) gave up two runs on four hits over five innings. It was his shortest outing by innings since April 11, when he also went five against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and his 82 pitches were his fewest since throwing 71 on opening day in Miami.

”Obviously any time you’re taken out of a game you’re not happy, (but) I respect the decision,” Lester said. ”(Maddon’s) my manager and I always stand behind him. But I’m a competitor and I want to pitch innings.”

Lester has a 1.73 ERA over his last 11 starts, going back to April 30, and hasn’t lost since May 23. He is tied with Washington’s Max Scherzer for the NL lead in wins.

Cody Bellinger had two of the Dodgers’ four hits off Lester and now has 19 hits in his past 18 games, including seven of his 15 home runs.

The Dodgers have a major league-leading 48 home runs in June but did not hit one Tuesday.

The Cubs sent nine batters to the plate in their big sixth inning. Adison Russell and Ben Zobrist hit RBI singles in the frame to go along with Baez’s grand slam. Willson Contreras added an RBI single in the eighth inning and Albert Almora had an RBI single in the ninth.

The Dodgers’ Enrique Hernandez and Justin Turner each stole third base uncontested in the eighth inning with the Cubs’ infield overloaded on the right side in an extreme defensive shift. Hernandez and Turner both ended up scoring in the inning.

CHILI SAUCE

Cubs hitting coach Chili Davis held a short meeting Tuesday for the hitters and it turned into a nine-run, 15-hit night for a club starved for offense.

”I want to believe (the meeting) had something to do with it,” Maddon said. ”(Opposite-field) hits by Almora and Contreras I loved. And of course Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey , Javy had a nice day. I’m still looking forward to, as we get more mature in the batter’s box, that we chase less. I love homers like everybody else does, but there are so many other ways to score.”

ROUGH DAY FOR PUIG

The Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig was doubled off trying to scramble back to first base in the second inning, failed to grab Ian Happ’s line drive into the gap in right-center for an error in the sixth, and twice allowed the Cubs to take an extra base on throws back to the infield.

The Dodgers came into the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead and left trailing 7-2.

”I thought the ball was a little further away and when I was trying to run it down I kind of lost it in the lights and that’s when we lost the game,” Puig said of missing Happ’s liner.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: 3B Kris Bryant (left shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 10-day DL, retroactive to June 23, but is not expected to miss more than 10 days, Maddon. … RHP Yu Darvish (right triceps tendinitis) will throw a bullpen this week before the Cubs decide if he will need another rehab start or rejoin the active roster.

Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (right rib microfracture) threw a full-intensity bullpen session and the Dodgers will discuss the possibility of an upcoming minor league rehab start. … INF/OF Chris Taylor (sore left hamstring) did not start but had a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning as the club is trying to avoid a DL move. … RHP Pedro Baez (right biceps tendinitis) threw a bullpen at about 70-percent effort, according to Roberts, and is expected to throw another bullpen Friday.

UP NEXT

Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 3.73 ERA) has lost four of his last five starts. Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood (3-5, 4.13) has won his last two starts after giving up 15 combined runs over his previous three out