Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres (10:05 pm ET, KCAL)
Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres lock their horns in Game 1 (10:05 pm ET, KCAL), on Tuesday, at Petco Park, San Diego, California. The Dodgers have a 53-46 home, 21-25 away record whereas the Padres have a 58-39 away, 30-19 home record.
The Padres (58-39) lead the third-place Dodgers (53-46) by six games. On Sunday, defeating New York 1-0, the Dodgers come in on a badly needed hot streak. Chad Billingsley will try to get off to a strong start by continuing his success against the Padres. After Clayton Kershaw scattered seven hits in eight innings Sunday, Billingsley (8-5, 4.22 ERA) will try to turn in another superb effort. Tossing a five-hitter in a 2-0 win over the Giants, Billingsley had his own terrific outing Wednesday. That came after he struggled with a 1/3 record and 5.91 ERA through seven starts.
In the NL, the Padres own the best record and since 1998, they are 19 games above .500 for the first time. Against the Dodgers, Adrian Gonzalez, in his last six home games is 1 for 18 with a solo homer. Defeating Pittsburgh 6-3 on Sunday, San Diego has won eight of 10 to sweep the three-game set as it heads into this key series against a division rival.
Jon Garland (9-6, 3.61), who is 5-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 10 home starts, will be given the ball by Bud Black. Yielding four runs in five innings of a 6-4, 12-inning win over Atlanta, and the right-hander was not nearly as sharp on the road Wednesday. This season, in two starts against the Dodgers, he is 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA.
