Adrian Gonzalez has enjoyed facing Padres

As the Dodgers battle the Padres for their first road series of the year, it marks another return to San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez, who averaged 32 home runs and 100 RBI in his five seasons as the Padres' first baseman. Since getting traded by the Padres prior to the 2011 season, Gonzalez has enjoyed uncommon success against San Diego.

In nine games against the Padres, Gonzalez has hit .487/.512/.538 (19-for-39) with 10 runs batted in and seven mult-hit games. Only three of those games have come at Petco Park, as the Dodgers played their last road series of 2012 in San Diego. Gonzalez had two singles in all three games, hitting .462 (6-for-13) with three RBI.

Gonzalez, who had three multi-hit games over the weekend and hit .636 (7-for-11) against the Pirates, will have to face southpaw Clayton Richard on Tuesday, the second of three consecutive left-handed starters against the Dodgers. But facing Richard hasn't been a problem for Gonzalez, who has seven singles in eight at-bats against his former teammate.

Richard has had success against the Dodgers' other big left-hander in the lineup, as Andre Ethier is hitting just .143/.194/.179 (4-for-28) against him. Two Dodgers who have punished Richard are Matt Kemp (.375/.394/.688, 12-for-32, four doubles, two home runs) and Juan Uribe (.385/.429/.731, 10-for-26, two home runs, double, triple).

The Dodgers overall are quite familiar with Richard, as he faced them six times last season and has made 13 starts against Los Angeles in the last four years. He is 6-3 against the Dodgers with a 3.16 ERA, with 42 strikeouts and 18 walks in 74 innings.