After experiencing the thrill of taking a lead in the eighth inning behind a Justin Turner go-ahead home run, the Los Angeles Dodgers hit the mat one inning later, as Kenley Jansen gave up a walk-off home run to Melvin Upton Jr.
The San Diego Padres’ victory ended their four-game losing streak and gave them their first win against the Dodgers at Petco Park this season. Overall, the Padres have won three of the past four games against Los Angeles. However, the Dodgers have won 10 of the last 13 head-to-head meetings.
As for the present, the Dodgers are stuck in a three-game losing streak, marking the second time in 2016 they’ve dropped at least that many in a row. Their quest to win the series against the Padres continues Saturday night with Alex Wood on the mound.
The southpaw held the St. Louis Cardinals to one run on three hits and had five strikeouts over six innings in his previous outing. Wood didn’t receive a decision, but the Dodgers went on to lose the game.
Wood faced the Padres on April 29, throwing seven innings of one-run ball. The start was the first after Wood adjusted his leg kick to improve the timing in his delivery. He collected nine strikeouts, which still holds as a season high, though the Padres came away with a win.
The majority of Wood’s struggles this season have come on the road. In four starts outside of Dodger Stadium, he’s 0-3 with a 8.05 ERA and 1.84 WHIP. Opponents are batting .318/.385/.494 in such games.
Overall this season, Wood is 1-3 with a 4.17 ERA, 3.86 FIP and 1.30 WHIP in eight starts. He last earned a win on the road at Petco Park in September 2015. The Padres counter by sending Cesar Vargas to the mound.
The rookie right-hander enters 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA, 4.59 FIP and 1.69 WHIP over five career starts. One outing came against the Dodgers on April 29 when he tossed 5.1 scoreless innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Vargas owns a 1.64 ERA at Petco Park in two starts.
As expected, Adrian Gonzalez makes his first start since getting removed in the sixth inning of Monday’s game due to back tightness. Gonzalez appeared in Friday’s game as part of a double switch, and lined out in his lone at-bat.
Corey Seager enters play riding an 11-game hitting streak, which matches his career high. He’s batting .370 (17-for-46) with four doubles, five home runs and eight RBIs during the stretch, which began May 10.
Wood has hit safely in his last four games (4-for-7), which is the longest hitting streak of his career. No Dodgers pitcher has had a hitting streak of five or more games since Darren Dreifort’s hit safely in five consecutive games in 1999.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
LF: Trayce Thompson
CF: Joc Pederson
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
P: Alex Wood
Padres lineup:
CF: Jon Jay
1B: Wil Myers
RF: Matt Kemp
LF: Melvin Upton Jr.
C: Derek Norris
3B: Brett Wallace
SS: Alexei Ramirez
2B: Adam Rosales
P: Cesar Vargas
