The San Diego Padres swung for the fences at the trade deadline acquiring Juan Soto among others to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Well, that didn’t work out so well leaving the Pads fighting for one of three wild card spots.
The Dodgers own the NL West, the National League and baseball overall sporting the best record by a good margin. Part of that has to do with their success against their rival to the south. The Dodgers won eight of the first 10 meetings this season and 17 of the last 19 dating back to last season. They look to continue that run of success when the clubs meet on Sunday Night Baseball.
San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers Date & Time
The NL West clash between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers takes place on Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 7:08 p.m. ET from Dodger Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN with betting options for every game on the 2022 MLB schedule available at BookMaker.eu.
San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers Odds
San Diego Padres (Check Back Later)
Los Angeles Dodgers (Check Back Later)
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Season So Far…
Beating the Dodgers will not only help San Diego in the wild card race but it would be a huge boost to their psychological state. At this point it’s almost comical how the Padres don’t stack up against their biggest rival. I guess if more teams outside the NL West played LA as often we might see similar records, but this is borderline ridiculous and shows just how good LA is. Make no mistake the Padres are a good team and could be better now that new additions Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury have gotten acclimated to their new surroundings. It’s not easy overhauling a club in the middle of the season and there are sure to be some adjustments.
It was a struggle initially with the Pads losing five straight, three of them to the Dodgers, after the deadline while scoring only seven runs in that span. And they needed four wins in five games just to get to 12-13 overall since acquiring those players. They enter this series with renewed hope that they can beat the Dodgers, though. And the odds would suggest more success. San Diego got to 72-59 winning two straight from the Giants while averaging 6.8 runs during their five-game stretch.
You would think the Dodgers would get tired of winning all the time. But when you have baseball’s highest scoring offense and the best team ERA wins are plentiful. We’ve said the same things about the Dodgers for the last several years with them rolling through the regular season. They saw their stranglehold on the NL West end last year taking a record breaking campaign from the Giants to do so. For LA it’s just business as usual winning over 70 percent of their games and getting to 90 wins before any other team even has 84.
Heck, even when the Dodgers get hit with bad news they turn it into a positive. They lost ERA leader Tony Gonsolin for a few starts but got Clayton Kershaw back in the rotation. And with Walker Buehler headed for another Tommy John surgery they get Dustin May back. The Dodgers have been so good they can go 10-24 over the final 34 games and still reach 100 wins for a third straight full season.
Probable Pitchers
The Padres are starting to see results from Mike Clevinger (5-5, 3.59 ERA), who was acquired in 2020 to help the team’s playoff push. However, an injury late in that season that eventually required Tommy John surgery set him back and he missed all of 2021. He allowed two runs or less in six of his past eight starts compiling a 3.40 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 45 innings over that span. The numbers would look much better if not for a rough outing against the Dodgers on Aug. 6. In that game Clevinger went 4.2 innings allowing seven hits, two of which left the yard, and five earned runs in an 8-3 loss. It was one of just two losses the Padres suffered in his last seven starts with the team going 11-6 in all of his outings this season.
Once again we see the Dodgers rotation go into a state of flux with Gonsolin headed to the IL. It really isn’t a problem, though, since they have an abundance of riches. The likely option for Sunday is Andrew Heaney (2-1, 2.12 ERA), who is being eased back into the rotation after two stints on the IL. Heaney had a fantastic start to the season allowing just one unearned run in his first two starts. He returned to the hill in late July and has completed more than five innings just once in his last seven starts. He’s been effective, though, pitching to a 2.87 ERA over 31.1 innings in that span letting the bullpen close things down. The Dodgers are 6-1 in those starts.
Padres vs Dodgers Predictions
LA’s mastery in the series is perplexing. We know the Dodgers are a great team, the best in baseball this season. But the Padres aren’t bad with their failures more mental than anything. None of the games have been close either with only three decided by two runs or less. I do think the Padres will crack the code, though, with a more potent offense to attack LA pitching.
Prediction: San Diego Padres / OVER
