The Padres will look to capture an elusive series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers when the two teams meet Saturday night in San Diego.
The Dodgers (94-43) have won seven straight series against the Padres (77-62). Even with Friday’s walk-off loss in San Diego, the Dodgers are 10-4 against the Padres this season and 19-4 in the past 23 meetings between the National League West rivals.
But a series win isn’t a sure thing for the Padres. Just last weekend at Dodger Stadium, the Padres won the opener of a three-game set by a 7-1 score that snapped the Dodgers’ record run of 228 straight regular-season games without losing a game by more than five runs.
The Dodgers’ reaction? They defeated the Padres in the next two games by tallies of 12-1 and 9-4.
“A loss doesn’t bother us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the 7-1 defeat. “We’re geared to win the next game after any loss. We’re built to win series.”
Call it a coincidence, but the pitcher who started the 12-1 win last Saturday after that loss will start for the Dodgers again this Saturday. That’s Julio Urias (15-7, 2.29 ERA), and he’ll face fellow left-hander Blake Snell (6-8, 3.73).
The Padres are skipping over Sean Manaea’s start after less-than-stellar results (eight runs surrendered in 4 1/3 innings) against the Dodgers the last time out.
Clearly, Friday night’s 5-4 walk-off win on a Jake Cronenworth RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Padres a boost. It was their 11th walk-off win of the season and improved their extra-inning record to 11-3, including a 6-0 mark at home. The win also helped the Padres strengthen their hold on an NL wild-card berth.
“The walk-off wins, the one-run wins, the extra-inning wins all create an identity,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said Friday night. “There were five or six momentum shifts just over the course of this game.”
But now the Padres have to deal with Urias. Overall, the Dodgers are 17-9 in games started by the 26-year-old this season.
He is 2-0 against the Padres this year, allowing two runs on four hits and six walks with eight strikeouts in 11 innings for a 1.64 ERA. Last Saturday, Urias held the Padres to one run on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts in six innings. He is 5-1 with a 2.40 ERA in 13 appearances (eight starts) against San Diego.
But Snell is on a run of his own despite his subpar win-loss record. The Padres have been shut out in four of his 19 starts and scored two or fewer runs 10 times. Since the All-Star break, Snell is 5-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 49 innings.
In his one start against the Dodgers this season, Snell held them to one run on four hits and four walks with 12 strikeouts over five innings at Dodger Stadium on July 1. In seven career starts against Los Angeles, he is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.76 and 45 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
