Despite having the NL’s best record, the San Diego Padres have many obstacles to overcome in order to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Standing between them and a first-place finish in the NL West is the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom they will face in the second of a three-game series on Wednesday day night.
The San Diego Padres (58-40, 30-20 home) have 12 remaining games with the Dodgers. Los Angeles is currently in third place in the NL West and trail San Diego by five games, but they have beaten the Padres in five out the last six games and they have been dominant within the division. After Tuesday’s 2-0 win over San Diego, LA improved to 25-8 against NL West rivals.
Defense and pitching have been the key for San Diego’s successful season. They have committed a league-low 38 errors this season and are second in the NL in fielding percentage. They lead the majors in ERA (3.27) and opponents batting average (.238).
The Los Angeles Dodgers (54-46, 22-25 away) appear to be back on the right track after dropping six straight to open up the second half of the season. Since then, they have won five of their last six with wins coming over playoff contenders such as San Francisco, the New York Mets, and San Diego.
All five wins for LA over San Diego this season have ended with closer Jonathan Broxton getting the save. He has allowed just one hit over that stretch.
The pitching matchup features Hiroki Kuroda (8-8, 3.48) for the Dodgers and Clayton Richard (7-5, 3.57 ERA) for the Padres. Kuroda was dominant in his last outing, giving up five hits over eight scoreless innings over the Mets on Thursday. Richard was not quire as successful in his last outing. He gave up nine hits and five runs over six innings of an 8-0 loss to Atlanta on Thursday.
