Dodgers Open Series At Petco Park With Lilly Vs. Richard

The Dodgers continue their road trip through the National League West this weekend in San Diego at Petco Park against the Padres. Ted Lilly starts the opener for the Dodgers, and will be opposed by Clayton Richard of the Padres. Lilly made his Dodger debut against the Padres last August 3. He allowed a home run and a single within the first three batters, but settled down to retire the next 20 in a row, picking up the win in a 2-1 Dodger triumph. However, looking back at that game, only Ryan Ludwick, Nick Hundley and Chris Denorfia remain from the Padres starting lineup.

Lilly is 6-3 with a 3.06 ERA in his career against San Diego, the fourth-best ERA for Lilly against any club. Lilly has made 10 career starts against the Padres, and in each game he has pitched six or more innings, averaging 6.93 innings per start. Eight of the 10 outings have been quality starts.

Lilly in his career is just 1-2 in four starts at Petco Park, but he has a 2.77 ERA and has pitched at least six innings in all four outings. In 26 career innings at Petco, Lilly has seven walks and 22 strikeouts, and has given up two home runs.

Richard has not yet tasted defeat against the Dodgers in his career. He got a no-decision while with the White Sox on June 25, 2009, but since he joined the Padres he has won all four starts against Los Angeles. Richard is 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his five career starts against the Dodgers, and as a Padre that ERA gets lowered to 1.64. As a Padre, he allowed four runs in a start to the Dodgers once, and in the other three starts he has allowed just one run combined.

In a nice twist, both Lilly and Richard picked up their first career shutouts against tonight's opponent. Lilly, then a Yankee, shutout the Padres at Qualcomm Stadium in 2002, and Richard shutout the Dodgers last September 21, the day the Dodgers were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Lineups

Matchups

• Among Padres, Ludwick has faced Lilly the most, with 36 plate appearances. However, Ludwick is just 5-for-32 with four doubles and four walks, hitting .156/.250/.281
• Neither Padre backstop has reached base against Lilly: Hundley is 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts, and Rob Johnson is 0-for-2 with one strikeout
  
• The homer-prone Lilly has allowed no home runs in 107 combined PA against current members of the Padres
• Andre Ethier is just 1-for-12 against RIchard, while Rafael Furcal is slightly better, at 1-for-10 with three walks
• Juan Uribe is 7-for-15 with a triple, home run, and two walks against Richard, hitting .467/.529/.800
• Jamey Carroll is 5-for-11 with four walks against Richard, hitting .455/.600/.455
  
• Marcus Thames, the starter in left field tonight against the southpaw, faced Richard back in 2009. In six plate appearances, Thames had three walks and three fly outs, two to "deep" center. Maybe one of those can go out tonight.
  

Game Time: 7:05 p.m.

TV: Prime Ticket

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