The Dodgers begin a short six-game homestand Friday night, facing off first with the San Diego Padres. Phil Gurnee's team preview on the Friars from earlier this month can be found here. The Padres are 9 - 16 this season so far, a .360 winning percentage that makes them the current NL West cellar dwellers.

The Padres offense is struggling. According to Eric Stephen, in their last ten games they have scored 16 total runs, winning the two games in which they scored five runs, and losing eight games in which they scored six runs total. Also according to Eric, since the Dodgers last saw San Diego, the Padres are 5-12 and have scored a mere 2.24 runs per game.

Oh, Andre Ethier will try to extend his 24-game hitting streak, against a left-handed starter.

The pitching match ups for the weekend series:

Friday, 7:10 P.M., Clayton Richard vs. Ted Lilly

Saturday, 7:10 P.M., Tim Stauffer vs. Hiroki Kuroda

Sunday, 1:10 P.M., Dustin Moseley vs. Jon Garland