Dodgers at Padres
The Los Angeles Dodgers look to continue their dominance against division rivals when they start a stretch of 13 games versus the National League West with the first of three at the San Diego Padres on Monday. The Dodgers own the best record in the major leagues (86-46) despite dropping two of three to the New York Yankees over the weekend after managing just five hits in Sunday's 5-1 setback.
Joc Pederson produced the only run with a leadoff blast to match the career-high total of 26 he set in 2015 for Los Angeles, which owns a 20-game lead over second-place San Francisco in the NL West and is 36-18 against the division. The Padres snapped their four-game losing streak on Sunday as Manny Machado belted a two-run homer in a 4-1 victory over Boston and begin a stretch of 13 straight contests versus NL West opponents on Monday. Machado has hit safely in eight of his last nine games (10-for-34), and his blast on Sunday gave San Diego a franchise-record 190 on the season - one more than it launched in 2017. Eric Lauer will try to register another strong outing in the season series when he takes the mound for the Padres on Monday while rookie Dustin May is expected to get the call for the Dodgers, who are 8-5 against San Diego this season.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Dustin May (1-2, 4.26 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Lauer (6-8, 4.47)
May did not perform well in his first relief appearance on Aug. 18, allowing four runs on three hits and a walk over two innings at Atlanta. The 21-year-old Texan limited opponents to six runs - five earned - over 17 frames in his first three career starts, including a loss to the Padres in his major-league debut on Aug 2. Francisco Mejia went 2-for-2 versus May, who gave up four runs - three earned - and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings in that defeat.
Lauer has permitted a total of nine runs in four starts this month but has recorded only one victory while completing more than five innings just once. The 24-year-old native of Ohio notched that lone win against Los Angeles opposite May on Aug. 2, when he allowed two runs over six frames, and has limited the Dodgers to a .175 batting average in three starts this season. Jedd Gyorko is 4-for-5 with a homer against Lauer, who is 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA at home this year and 4-0 with a 1.72 mark in six career turns versus Los Angeles.
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres OF Manuel Margot went 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles in the series against the Red Sox.
2. Los Angeles OF Cody Bellinger needs one homer to match Mark Teixeira and Joe DiMaggio (107) for the fourth-most in the first three years of a major-league career.
3. San Diego is tied with Pittsburgh for the most errors in the NL this season with 95.