Los Angeles @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( May 20, 2010 ) San Diego 1, LA Dodgers 4
A critical stretch for the Los Angeles Dodgers has arrived, particularly if they envision chasing down the San Diego Padres at some point over the next two months.
The Dodgers and Padres begin a three-game series in San Diego on Tuesday night that will represent the first of seven games in 10 days between the two NL West rivals.
San Diego leads Los Angeles by six games entering this stretch and the third-place Dodgers can’t afford to fall further off the pace.
Los Angeles warmed up for the series by taking three of four from the New York Mets. Counting last Wednesday’s victory over the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers are 4-1 over their last five games - with three of the victories coming by shutout.
The Padres were supposed to be establishing residency in the division basement, but instead have been leading the NL West for nearly the entire season. San Diego (58-39) has the best record in the National League and is 19 games over .500 for the first time since 1998, a season that ended with the Padres reaching the World Series.
The Padres are 7-2 since the All-Star break and have actually been producing offensively after relying primarily on pitching and defense over the first half of the season. San Diego has scored 90 runs over its last 15 games, an average of six runs per contest.
The recent offensive splurge by the Padres presents quite a challenge for Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley, who pitches Tuesday and is coming off one of the top performances of his career.
Billingsley (8-5, 4.22 ERA) tossed his second career shutout while giving up five hits to San Francisco last Wednesday.
One of Billingsley’s top performances of this season came at Petco Park in mid-May, when he blanked the Padres on four hits over 7 1/3 innings during a 1-0 victory. Billingsley is 9-4 with a 2.51 career ERA against San Diego.
Jon Garland (9-6, 3.61 ERA) starts for the Padres and he’s been shaky the last two months after entering June with a 2.15 ERA.
Garland has a 5.47 ERA over his last nine starts. He defeated the Dodgers in mid-May despite giving up four runs in five innings.
Los Angeles third baseman Casey Blake has four homers off Garland in 49 career at-bats. Blake is batting .286 against Garland.
The Dodgers have scored just 25 runs in 11 games since the All-Star break. They have tallied just nine runs while winning four of their last five games.
All-Star outfielder Andre Ethier enters Tuesday’s game in a 2-for-29 funk.
San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez hit his 21st homer of the season during Sunday’s victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the All-Star first baseman certainly hasn’t been the team’s hottest hitter of late.
Outfielder Chris Denorfia owns that title with a 12-for-30 streak (.400) over the last seven games. Denorfia has four homers and eight RBIs during the streak.
On another note, Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw will begin serving a five-game suspension Tuesday, stemming from a recent game in which he hit San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand with a pitch. Kershaw returns Sunday – to pitch against the Giants in San Francisco.