Baseball’s best rivalry this decade is about to jump off once again — yet with the principals in decidedly unfamiliar circumstances.
The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers will reconvene for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium this weekend and this time, it is the Padres on top of the National League West by just a game.
Not a big deal? Well, consider that this is the latest in the season that the Padres have occupied first place since 2010, when they were overtaken on the last weekend of the season by the San Francisco Giants, who’d then launch a mini-dynasty.
And it’s just as much unfamiliar territory for the dynastic and big-spending Dodgers, who have won 11 of 12 West titles since 2013.
As the Padres (69-52) and Dodgers (68-53) reengage, here’s what to watch in this first of six matchups over the next nine games:
Playoff encore
It’s possible San Diegans haven’t totally gotten over the 2024 NL Division Series, when the Padres held a 2-1 lead only to see the Dodgers win a bullpen game and then get a gem from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the deciding Game 5.
As the Dodgers rolled to the World Series title, hindsight lent credence to the theory that this was the best matchup of the postseason, a couple rounds too early.
There was plenty of spice in that battle, as well. Dodger Stadium fans caused a brief delay in Game 2 after engaging with Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar, and a similar imbroglio developed in right field with Fernando Tatis Jr.
Meanwhile, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took exception to the manner in which his former shortstop, Manny Machado, tossed baseballs back to the Dodgers’ dugout from Machado’s perch at third base.
Grandstanding met by grandstanding? Perhaps.
Season series
While the Padres hold a slim division lead, they’ve got some work to do against the Dodgers this season. L.A. has won five of seven matchups and can clinch the season series with two victories this weekend. That’s no minor feat given how close the teams are in the standings, with the season series winner gaining a tiebreaker that essentially adds another game to their lead.
The teams’ first seven games were, like this one, played almost consecutively, with just one series breaking them up. And the Dodgers reeled off three consecutive home victories to build a 4 ½-game lead by June 18.
It would balloon to nine games by July 3, seemingly putting the West race on ice given the Dodgers’ dynastic track record. Yeah, about that …
Dodgers’ July collapse
After that high-water mark, the Dodgers would immediately lose 11 of 13 games, including a pair of sweeps by the Milwaukee Brewers, who would shortly assume the tag as best team in baseball.
Their 10-14 July shaved their West lead to three games, and would seem to suggest reinforcements were necessary at the deadline.
Yeah, about that …
Padres: Deadline dealers, fast climbers
Instead, it was notoriously active Padres club president A.J. Preller who again “won the trade deadline,” though perhaps we can remove the air quotes already. His acquisition of top-flight reliever Mason Miller to what was already the game’s best bullpen gave the club a lockdown look in the late innings.
And additions of outfielder Ramon Laureano and lefty slugger Ryan O’Hearn in a deal with Baltimore lengthened the lineup and boosted the outfield defense.
Since then? The Padres have won nine of 12 games post-deadline, erasing the last three games of the Dodgers’ lead — and taking a one-game advantage themselves.
Dodgers-Padres pitching matchups
While pitching matchups always matter in late-season intra-division battles, they take on a greater significance here since so many of the arms are recent reinforcements.
Friday: Padres RHP Michael King vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw.
Saturday: Padres RHP Dylan Cease vs. Dodgers LHP Blake Snell.
Sunday: Padres RHP Yu Darvish vs. Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow.
Wow, a lot to parse here. King has made just one start since missing three months with a pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder. Snell has made just one start since missing four months with his own shoulder issues.
Darvish (eight starts after missing the first half with elbow inflammation) and Glasnow (six starts after three-month shoulder-related absence) also have limited recent samples, though Glasnow has pitched well of late.
The man to watch: Snell, who won the 2023 NL Cy Young Award as a Padre, struck out 10 in five innings of his most recent start. If he builds upon that and resembles the guy who pitched so dominantly after a similar return in 2024, it could drastically change the dynamics of this race.
Dodgers-Padres: How to watch
MLB Network will broadcast both Friday’s game (10:10 ET) and Sunday’s game (4:10 ET).