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The Dodgers play the Padres for three series and nine games over the next four weeks. The first of these National League West meetings begins Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
After suffering their first series loss in over five weeks, the Dodgers enter the weekend at 90-40, with an 18-game lead over San Diego in the National League West. LA’s magic number to clinch their ninth division in ten years is 14, which means it’s going to be a little bit before the NL West is officially won. The earliest the Dodgers can clinch is next Friday, September 9.
Dodgers-Padres matchup
| Stat | Padres | Dodgers |
|---|---|---|
| Stat | Padres | Dodgers |
| Record | 73-59 (.553) | 90-40 (.692) |
| Split | 38-31 road | 45-16 home |
| Matchup W | 2 | 8 |
| Run diff. | +45 (11th) | +284 (1st) |
| RS/game | 4.43 (14th) | 5.34 (1st) |
| wRC+ | 102 (15th) | 121 (1st) |
| HR | 119 (21st) | 170 (5th) |
| SB | 38 (t-27th) | 84 (6th) |
| RA/game | 4.09 (11th) | 3.14 (1st) |
| ERA | 3.79 (10th) | 2.84 (1st) |
| ERA+ | 100 (t-16th) | 148 (1st) |
| FIP | 3.74 (9th) | 3.40 (1st) |
| IP/start | 5.63 (3rd) | 5.44 (9th) |
| K rate | 23.7% (7th) | 24.6% (5th) |
| BB rate | 7.7% (11th) | 6.9% (2nd) |
The Dodgers are 8-2 against the Padres this season, and with no more Games 163, winning the head-to-head battle is the first tiebreaker should the two teams end up tied atop the NL West. That’s a long way of saying if Los Angeles beats San Diego two more times this year, they will clinch the season series, and in the process lowering their magic number by one.
The Padres are currently in the final wild card position at 73-59, but they are mired in a three-team race with the Phillies (73-58) and Brewers (69-61) for two playoff berths. San Diego is a half-game behind Philadelphia for the No. 5 seed, and three games up on Milwaukee, who is on the outside looking in at the moment.
San Diego comes to town having won five of their last six games, including a three-game sweep of the Giants in San Francisco.
The Padres were off Thursday, but among their two September call-ups as rosters expanded to 28 players was old friend Matt Beaty, who was traded by the Dodgers on March 28. Beaty struggled in the early going this year, going 4-for-37 (.108) with a double and a triple before landing on the injured list in May with a left shoulder impingement, which knocked him out for nearly three months.
Blake Treinen is expected to be activated by the Dodgers on Friday, after seven minor league rehab games in Triple-A. The right-hander has been sidelined since April with shoulder inflammation.
In addition to this weekend in Los Angeles, the Dodgers and Padres play two more series in San Diego — next weekend (September 9-11) and September 27-29 at Petco Park.
The series finale Sunday night will be exclusively televised by ESPN, with Karl Ravech, David Cone, and Eduardo Perez on the call, along with reporter Alden Gonzalez. The Dodgers have won all three games on ESPN ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ this season, including a win over the Padres at Dodger Stadium on August 7.
Dodgers-Padres pitching matchups
Friday: Dustin May vs. Yu Darvish
7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA
Saturday: Julio Urías vs. Sean Manaea
6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA
Sunday: Andrew Heaney vs. Mike Clevinger
4:08 p.m., ESPN
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