Dodgers vs. Padres, old school against new school

The Dodgers arrived into San Diego late at night from New York, and the boys in blue must shake off season-long jet lag. Don Mattingly will send Stephen Fife to the mound for his 10th career start, while Bud Black has the savvy veteran Jason Marquis pitching.

Fife defeated the Padres at Chavez Revine on June 3rd by posting 5 1/3 innings, one earned run, five hits, five strikeouts and two walks. On the other hand, Marquis has already seen the Dodgers three times in the 2013 season. Marquis is 2-0 in the outings and didn't allow more than two runs in each matchup. Marquis sports a 9-2 overall record with a 3.63 ERA, while silently accumulating career best numbers.

Despite the familiarity between the teams, a lot has changed over the past couple weeks. San Diego won six straight by sweeping the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks. Therefore, the 66 million dollar Padres are only three games back in the NL West and may be favorites over the 220 million dollar Dodgers.

Rookie phenomenon Yasiel Puig debuted against the Padres on June 3rd, and the rest is history. Puig may not be headed to the all-star game because of San Francisco Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, but the 22-year-old Cuban star has stolen baseball's headlines via all-star type of production.

Thursday's encounter marks the first time the Dodgers and Padres square off at Petco park since the early season brawl.

Game info

Tv: KCAL

Time: 7:10 p.m.

MLB Gameday