In the midst of 13 straight games to start the second half, the Padres are passing the DH spot around to their regulars.

Xander Bogaerts will get a half-day off his feet for Sunday’s 10:35 a.m. start on Padres.TV.

Manny Machado had a half-day off on Saturday after Trenton Brooks began the Nationals’ series as the DH.

Without a dedicated designated hitter this year, especially with Gavin Sheets becoming a regular in left field, the DH spot has become about as productive offensively as catcher.

The team’s .568 OPS out of its DHs is second worst in the majors, ahead of only the Texas Rangers (.514). The Royals (.590) are the only other team with an OPS below .600 from their DHs.

Luis Arraez’s .767 OPS as a DH is tops on the team, followed by Sheets (.670) and Bogaerts (.596).

Sheets leads the team with 165 plate appearances as a DH, followed by 66 from Arraez, 43 from Machado (.489) and 29 from Brooks (.429).

With Bogaerts at DH, Jose Iglesias will get the start at shortstop and bat seventh.

Against left-hander MacKenzie Gore, Bogaerts is in the clean-up spot for the 20th time. Bogaerts was 0-for-4 with a strikeout on Friday but is hitting .361/.435/.492 over his last 17 games and is a .300/.363/.391 hitter against lefties this year.

Jackson Merrill will bat fifth, followed by Sheets. Jake Cronenworth will play second and bat eighth, a regular spot for him against left-handed pitching.

Here is how the Nationals will lineup for the series finale:

 

Sunday’s pitching matchup

Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (9-2, 2.88 ERA)

His breakout season has been spearheaded by cutting his home run rate from 1.7 per nine innings last year to 1.0 this year. His hit rate (6.8 per nine innings) would also be the best of his career if the season ended today. Pivetta’s run of four straight starts with one or fewer runs allowed (0.36 ERA) began with striking out 10 Nationals over seven shutout innings on June 25 at Petco Park.

Here is how Pivetta has fared against current Nationals:

Nationals LHP MacKenzie Gore (4-8, 3.02 ERA)

The first-time All-Star has 138 strikeouts in 110⅓ innings, including six in six innings of one-run ball in a tough-luck loss to his former team at Petco Park in June. Gore has a 2.08 ERA over his last three starts and a 2.39 ERA in eight home starts so far this year for the Nationals.

Here is how Gore has fared against current Padres: