Los Angeles @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 27, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 2, San Diego 0

About the only thing the San Diego Padres haven’t solved this season is the Los Angeles Dodgers. That problem continued during the first game of the current three-game series.

The Dodgers improved to 5-1 against the first-place Padres on Tuesday night with a 2-0 blanking in San Diego. The two teams meet again Wednesday during a stretch where they play each other seven times in 10 days.

That gives the Dodgers ample opportunity to make up ground on the Padres, the team with the best record in the National League. The Dodgers trail San Diego by five games after Tuesday’s victory.

While San Diego has excelled most of the season, the Padres have struggled against Los Angeles. San Diego has scored a total of five runs in the five losses to the Dodgers. The Padres’ only victory was by a 10-5 score back in mid-May.

While the Dodgers have underachieved most of the season, they have been splendid against their four National League West rivals. They are now 25-8 against division foes.

Hiroki Kuroda will attempt to keep the Dodgers’ intra-division success and dominance over the Padres going when he starts for Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Kuroda (8-8) is coming off a sensational outing against the New York Mets. Kuroda pitched eight innings of shutout ball, scattering five hits and one walk. He lowered his earned-run average to 3.48.

Kuroda is 4-2 with a 4.91 ERA in seven career starts against the Padres.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has a .933 slugging percentage in 15 career at-bats against Kuroda. Gonzalez is batting .333 against Kuroda with all five hits going for extra bases. He has two homers and three doubles.

Left-hander Clayton Richard pitches for the Padres and he’s been roughed up in four July starts with a 7.13 ERA. Opponents are batting .320 against him this month after batting .236 in June and .231 in May.

Richard gave up five or more runs in three of his July starts. He lost to the Atlanta Braves in his most recent outing, giving up four runs – three earned – and nine hits in six innings.

Overall, Richard is 7-5 with a 3.57 ERA. Entering July, his ERA stood at 2.74.

Slumping Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier was a late scratch from Tuesday’s game due to a stomach illness but came off the bench to deliver a two-run pinch hit single that provided Los Angeles with the game’s only runs. Ethier was buried in a 2-for-29 slump before the hit.

San Diego second baseman David Eckstein had an MRI earlier this week that found his calf injury is just a strain.

Eckstein has been on the disabled list since July 21. A timetable hasn’t been set for his return.