San Diego took a three game set from a red-hot Brewers team over the weekend in Milwaukee. Now, the Friars are set to face the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time since their heated meeting in the 2024 National League Division Series.
The Padres (37-27, 2nd in NL West) enter the highly anticipated matchup a game out of first place in their division after beating the Brew Crew on Friday and Sunday. San Diego has received strong performances from their starting rotation as of late, as all seven games through San Francisco and Milwaukee were decided by two or fewer runs. They're still in search of offense, though. Manny Machado provided the only sense of firepower over the course of the road trip. The slugger single-handedly helped the Friars secure the series' rubber game at American Family Field with a no-doubt shot into the left-center field stands to down the Brewers 1-0.
Over in St. Louis, the Dodgers (39-27, 1st in NL West) dropped a weekend series to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The reigning World Series champions currently have three of their top five starting rotation options on the injured list. For the most part, their fierce 1-2-3 punch of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman is what's sustained them atop the NL West. After back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday, Los Angeles salvaged a game against the Red Birds on Sunday with a 7-3 victory.
Pitching matchups
Monday: Dodgers RHP Dustin May (3-4, 4.09 ERA) vs. Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (6-2, 3.16 ERA) 6:40 p.m. PT
Dustin May looks to continue a positive trend into his start against San Diego on Monday. The tall and lanky righty has tossed a quality start in all 11 of his outings this season. He kept it rolling in his last performance against the New York Mets, delivering six innings while striking out five batters and surrendering two earned runs on six hits.
Hurler Nick Pivetta toes the slab for the Padres, as he looks to deliver a quality performance himself. Although Pivetta tossed six innings on June 4 at San Francisco, the righty allowed five earned runs to cross the plate. It will be interesting to see how he manages the top three in LA's lineup as the ballgame progresses.
Tuesday: Dodgers RHP Lou Trivino (1-0, 3.97 ERA) vs. Padres RHP Dylan Cease (1-5, 4.72 ERA) 6:40 p.m. PT
Lou Trivino will be Tusday night’s opener in a bullpen game for Los Angeles. Dave Roberts famously deployed his pen’ against the Friars last October to eventually advance to the NLCS.
Cease's struggles continue to baffle just about everyone. With an ERA approaching five, the Milton, Georgia native looks to settle down at home. The hard-throwing right-hander has surrendered three runs in each of his last four starts, as he's also had a tough time working deep into games.
Wednesday: Dodgers LHP Justin Wrobleski (1-2, 7.20 ERA) vs. Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.69 ERA) 1:10 p.m. PT
Rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski will see the Padre lineup for the first time in his career during the series finale. The 24 year-old hasn't had the best of times on the mound in two starts this season, giving up a combined 12 earned runs in 11 innings pitched.
The enigma known as Randy Vásquez gets the ball to counter Wrobleski. In his last start, Vásquez walked four batters and gave up two hits but miraculously did not give up a single run to the Brewers lineup. The free passes have hindered him the most this season. He'll have to keep them in check against the Dodgers.
Who's hot?
Dodgers:
SS Mookie Betts is hitting .393 over his last seven games for Los Angeles with three XBH and a .452 OBP. CF Andy Pages rode an 11 game hitting streak from May 26 to June 6. Currently hitting .351 over his last 15 games. 2B Hyeseong Kim enters hitting a staggering .529 over his last seven contests with four RBI.
Padres:
3B Manny Machado makes the list again. Over his last 15 games the slugger is hitting .345 with six home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.090 OPS. RHP Robert Suarez collected his league leading 21st save on Sunday against Milwaukee. He has a 0.00 ERA in his last 8 1/3 innings pitched with nine strikeouts. RHP Jeremiah Estrada has been getting it done out of the Padres pen' as of late, carrying a seven inning scoreless streak.
Early takeaways
The best outcome for San Diego is moving two games up on their most hated rival in the NL West standings. A series victory would still put them atop the division.
The Dodgers meanwhile, look to pad their division lead and leave San Diego victorious as they did eight months ago.
This is the first meeting between the two teams since the postseason last October. The best of five series was exhilarating and filled with drama infused moments. No question, the baseball world will be focused on Petco Park the next three days. With Southern California bragging rights and the top spot in the division on the line, be prepared to see some tense baseball in the Gaslamp Quarter.