San Diego @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 13, 2014 ) San Diego 0, LA Dodgers 1

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been perfectly average at home this season, but they’ll have plenty of chances to improve over the next few weeks. The Dodgers, who play 15 of their next 20 games at home, are 30-30 at Chavez Ravine heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the visiting San Diego Padres. Los Angeles saw their lead over second-place San Francisco in the National League West cut to 3 1/2 games after losing three in a row at home to Milwaukee.

The Dodgers are hoping to bounce back against the Padres, who lost three of four against St. Louis over the weekend. San Diego's Tommy Medica and Jake Goebbert are expected to share time at first base in place of Yonder Alonso, who will miss the rest of the season after tests revealed damage to the tendon in his right forearm. The Dodgers are dealing with injuries to starting pitchers Josh Beckett and Hyun-Jin Ryu and third baseman Juan Uribe, but shortstop Hanley Ramirez (oblique) is expected to return later this week.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, SNLA (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Ian Kennedy (9-10, 3.54 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Kevin Correia (6-13, 4.79)

Kennedy has allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his last eight starts, including last Wednesday when he limited Colorado to three runs over six frames in a 5-3 victory. “I made some mistakes with my changeup, but for the most part I was pretty happy with how I felt,” Kennedy told MLB.com. “Best I’ve felt in a while.” Andre Ethier is 11-for-34 with two homers against the Huntington Beach, Calif. native, who is 5-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 14 career starts against the Dodgers.

Correia made an impressive Dodgers debut against Atlanta last Monday while yielding one run over six frames in a 6-2 victory. The San Diego native, who pitched for the Padres for two seasons from 2009-2010, went 5-13 with a 4.94 ERA with Minnesota before he was acquired by Los Angeles on Aug. 9. Correia is 4-3 with a 4.77 ERA in 24 career games (10 starts) against San Diego, and he held the Padres to three runs over six innings in his final start for the Twins on Aug. 6.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Padres are 44-1 when leading after six innings.

2. Nine of the 10 games between the teams this season have been decided by three runs or fewer, with Los Angeles winning seven of 10 while outscoring San Diego 27-22.

3. San Diego OF Seth Smith has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 6, Padres 4