The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres start a three-game series at Petco Park on Friday for their first meeting since the 2022 National League Division Series.
That came to an end in Game 4, when the Dodgers saw their season come to a crashing halt in San Diego.
Before the 2023 season began, most pundits and experts picked either the Padres or Dodgers to win the NL West. Up until the last two weeks, however, both teams were drastically underperforming.
The Dodgers were mired in a boom-or-bust hitting slump where they were busting more often than booming, and their pitching was also struggling. In their last 10 games, they are 8-2 and have won a season-best six consecutive games.
The Padres were also struggling, getting little from their biggest superstars in Juan Soto and Manny Machado. The Padres have now gone 7-3 in their last 10 games, with Machado’s production picking up, slugging .679 in his last seven. Soto has slugged .640 in his last seven. As Machado and Soto go, so do the Padres.
The conversation over whether these two teams are rivals has been put to bed over the past few seasons. It has become such a rivalry, that the Dodgers changed their rotation to better matchup against the Padres.
The series opener sees the Dodgers sending out the face of their franchise and best starting pitcher this season, Clayton Kershaw. He has turned back the clock in 2023 so far, going 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 0.76 WHIP.
In his last three starts, Kershaw has pitched 20 innings and collected 24 strikeouts with only one walk. He allowed only one earned run in those three starts. Kershaw is coming off of his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals where he pitched seven innings of shutout ball with nine strikeouts.
In his career, Kershaw is 23-9 with a 2.03 ERA against the Padres.
The Padres counter with Yu Darvish, who has enjoyed success against his former team. The right-hander holds a career 2.47 ERA when facing the Dodgers, which is superior to his overall 3.50 mark.
This season Darvish is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. He gave up nine hits and four earned runs in his last start against the San Francisco Giants.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
3B: Max Muncy
CF: Jason Heyward
LF: James Outman
2B: Miguel Vargas
DH: David Peralta
SS: Miguel Rojas
Padres lineup
RF: Fernando Tatís Jr.
3B: Manny Machado
LF: Juan Soto
SS: Xander Bogaerts
DH: Nelson Cruz
1B: Jake Cronenworth
2B: Ha-Seong Kim
C: Austin Nola
CF: Trent Grisham
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