Los Angeles hosts San Diego, aims to build on Kershaw's strong showing
San Diego Padres (43-45, fourth in the NL West) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (60-30, first in the NL West)
Los Angeles; Saturday, 10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Chris Paddack (5-4, 3.05 ERA, .94 WHIP, 81 strikeouts) Dodgers: Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.78 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 88 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw threw seven innings, giving up one run on five hits with nine strikeouts against San Diego.
The Dodgers are 29-13 against the rest of their division. Los Angeles ranks seventh in the league in hitting with a .265 batting average, Cody Bellinger leads the team with an average of .344.
The Padres have gone 17-21 against division opponents. San Diego is slugging .430 as a unit. Hunter Renfroe leads the team with a slugging percentage of .611. The Padres won the last meeting 3-2. Craig Stammen earned his sixth victory and Renfroe went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for San Diego. Yimi Garcia registered his third loss for Los Angeles.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bellinger leads the Dodgers with 51 extra base hits and is batting .344. Chris Taylor has 14 hits and is batting .412 over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
Eric Hosmer leads the Padres with 62 RBIs and is batting .293. Manny Machado is 8-for-35 with four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for San Diego.
LAST 10 GAMES: Dodgers: 6-4, .254 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
Padres: 5-5, .255 batting average, 4.85 ERA, outscored by two runs
Dodgers Injuries: Rich Hill: 60-day IL (left forearm), Tony Cingrani: 60-day IL (shoulder), Scott Alexander: 10-day IL (forearm), A.J. Pollock: 60-day IL (elbow), Corey Seager: 10-day IL (hamstring), David Freese: 10-day IL (hamstring), Will Smith: 10-day IL (undisclosed).
Padres Injuries: Adam Warren: 10-day IL (forearm), Robert Stock: 10-day IL (bicep), Garrett Richards: 60-day IL (elbow), Jacob Nix: 60-day IL (elbow), Aaron Loup: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Kennedy: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jose Castillo: 60-day IL (hip), Travis Jankowski: 60-day IL (foot), Franchy Cordero: 60-day IL (quad).
