San Diego @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 29, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 2, San Diego 3
The Los Angeles Dodgers entered a 10-game stretch of contests against the first-place San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants hoping to cut into their six-game deficit in the NL West.
Six games into the stretch, the Dodgers have fallen two more games off the pace.
The Dodgers have lost five consecutive games and trail the Padres by eight games as San Diego arrives at Dodger Stadium on Monday night for a pivotal four-game series.
Los Angeles is just 1-5 during the critical stretch. The Dodgers were swept in San Francisco over the weekend after losing the final two contests of a three-game set in San Diego.
The Dodgers are 5-12 since the All-Star break and have even fallen into fourth place behind the Colorado Rockies in the NL West.
Scoring runs has been a major problem since the break. Los Angeles has plated just 36 runs in the 17 games, an average of 2.1 per contest. The Dodgers have scored two runs or less in 12 of the 17 games.
Meanwhile, San Diego and San Francisco are threatening to turn the NL West into a two-team sprint. The Padres lead the Giants by 1 1/2 games and possess the National League's best record at 61-42. San Francisco (61-45) has the second-best mark in the league.
The Padres made some offensive upgrades by acquiring former All-Stars Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick prior to the July 31 trading deadline.
Ludwick, an outfielder acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals, made his Padres’ debut on Sunday. He entered the game in the sixth inning and had a pinch-hit single against All-Star Josh Johnson during a three-run uprising against the Florida Marlins.
Tejada, who was obtained from the Baltimore Orioles, started three consecutive games at shortstop and has one hit in his first 10 at-bats.
The hottest Padre is catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who has raised his average 50 points to .324 during a 14-game hitting streak. Torrealba went 3-for-4 on Sunday and is batting .460 (23-of-50) during the streak.
Another San Diego player on a roll is closer Heath Bell. The two-time All-Star has converted 17 straight opportunities since May 26 and is 30-for-33 on the season.
Left-hander Clayton Richard starts for the Padres and he defeated the Dodgers last Wednesday when he gave up one run and four hits in six innings.
Richard is 8-5 with a 3.48 ERA. He is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three career starts against Los Angeles.
Hiroki Kuroda was the losing pitcher in the contest that Richard won. Kuroda gave up three runs and four hits in six innings.
Kuroda (8-9, 3.53) has lost five of his last seven starts. He has a 4-3 career mark against the Padres with a 4.85 ERA in eight starts.
Los Angeles expects to get All-Star outfielder Andre Ethier back for Monday’s game. Ethier left the team in San Francisco because his wife was giving birth.
Ethier is in a 3-for-30 slump that has seen his average drop to .294.