Mookie Betts is wearing out San Diego pitching in the early part of the season.
Betts will look to inflict further damage on Sunday when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Padres in the finale of a three-game series.
Betts went 3-for-5 with two RBIs on Saturday night, when the Dodgers recorded a 5-2 victory.
In four games against San Diego this season, Betts is batting .500 (10-for-20) with two homers and 12 RBIs.
He came to the plate twice with runners in scoring position on Saturday and delivered run-scoring singles both times.
“I came up a couple times with guys on base,” Betts said afterward. “I came through today, but I know I have Shohei (Ohtani) behind me, and I know he’s always going to come through. It takes a whole team effort.”
The Dodgers and Padres split the first two games of the series. San Diego recovered from a four-run deficit on Friday night to post an 8-7 win in 11 innings before the Dodgers evened the slate with a win following a rain delay of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Los Angeles received a stellar effort from right-hander Gavin Stone, who tossed 5 2/3 hitless innings before Kyle Higashioka recorded the first San Diego hit with a single to left. Stone gave up two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings before departing.
Padres veteran infielder Xander Bogaerts was given the night off Saturday, and that led to 20-year-old Jackson Merrill stepping into the leadoff spot.
Merrill went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his first time atop the order.
Padres manager Mike Shildt said there was no hesitation writing down Merrill’s name first on the lineup card.
“We have confidence in Jackson, and he’s done a nice job and taking great at-bats,” Shildt said. “He’s been able to stay within himself, and he’s been able to really slow the game down, which is really impressive.”
Merrill is batting .300 and has a .397 on-base percentage in 17 big league games.
Padres right-hander Yu Darvish (0-1, 3.86 ERA) gets the call Sunday. He has struck out 20 in 18 2/3 innings over his first four starts.
He faced the Dodgers in the season opener in Seoul, South Korea, on March 20 and wasn’t involved in the decision. Darvish gave up one unearned run, two hits and three walks and struck out three in 3 2/3 innings.
Darvish, 37, is 4-5 with a 2.27 ERA in 12 career starts against Los Angeles. He faced the Dodgers twice in 2023 and went 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA.
Freddie Freeman (9-for-32) has smacked three homers off Darvish. Betts is just 6-for-34 with one homer while Chris Taylor is hitless in 13 at-bats.
In his last outing, Darvish gave up four runs and four hits in three innings in a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs.
Left-hander James Paxton (2-0, 1.64 ERA) will be on the mound for the Dodgers on Sunday.
Paxton recorded double-digit victories in three straight seasons from 2017-19 before his career was derailed by Tommy John surgery in April 2021. He returned to the mound last season when he went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts for the Boston Red Sox and then signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers in the offseason.
“It’s been great,” Paxton said of being with Los Angeles. “It’s definitely exceeding expectations. I didn’t know what to think. But even with all the star power you have on this team, there are no egos. Everybody is down to earth and here to play ball.”
Paxton has allowed just seven hits over 11 innings while winning his first two outings for the Dodgers. He gave up two runs and three hits over six innings Monday while beating the Minnesota Twins in his most recent turn.
Paxton, 35, is 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA in four career starts against the Padres. Bogaerts (7-for-26) has three homers against Paxton, and teammates Manny Machado (4-for-9) and Jurickson Profar (5-for-13) also have fared well against him.
–Field Level Media
