The San Diego Padres want to think they’re competitive with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their records say otherwise.
The Dodgers are 94-42, good for a 19-game advantage in the National League West on the rival Padres at 76-62. The Dodgers have won seven straight series against the Padres, own a 10-3 edge over the Padres this season and are 22-10 against the Padres since the start of the 2021 season.
When it comes to playing the Dodgers, everything imaginable has gone wrong for San Diego. An upcoming weather event won’t make things much better.
Heavy rains could rake San Diego County Friday and Saturday as the Padres host the Dodgers in the first of two series in San Diego over the next three weeks.
Hurricane Kay is churning off the west coast of Baja California, and while it won’t make a direct hit on San Diego, the outer bands will bring rain into the county. The great unknown is how much.
Dodgers right-hander Dustin May (1-2, 3.94 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Padres right-hander Mike Clevinger (5-6, 3.96 ERA) Friday. But it is scheduled to begin raining around 8 a.m. Friday and continue raining through Saturday night.
The Dodgers do return to San Diego on Sept. 27-29, which could allow for one or more doubleheaders later in the month.
While Los Angeles is starting to run away with the NL pennant, the Padres are in the thick of a wild-card race. They currently hold a 3 1/2-game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Both of Friday’s scheduled starters struggled the last time they faced the other team.
May gave up six runs on four hits — including home runs by Manny Machado and Brandon Drury — and five walks with five strikeouts in five innings on Sept. 2 in a 7-1 loss to the Padres.
“It was about the command,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of May’s fourth start since his return from Tommy John surgery.
“The stuff is there. There’s velocity and everything is hard, but if you’re not commanding it, then guys can time velocity. There were some good breaking balls in there, but there were a lot of misfires with a lot of his pitches. It’s a good lesson. He’s going to see these guys again in his next turn.”
Clevinger gave up five runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings two days later as the Dodgers won 9-4 in the rubber match of the series.
May is 1-4 with a 3.70 ERA in nine career appearances (six starts) against the Padres. Clevinger is 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers.
Not counting the Dodgers, the Padres have won seven of their last nine games in their drive for a wild-card berth.
“Whenever you can see the finish line, the urgency increases,” Melvin said. “It means it’s September. There are only so many games left and every one of them is important. The dramatics of September seem to increase every day. In every game there’s some urgency involved.”
–Field Level Media