The Dodgers are 14-2 against those pesky San Diego Padres in their last 16 games.
This is why the Padres will never be a legitimate rivalry to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers won three of four games against the Padres this weekend. They won the first three games of the series before losing the fourth game on Sunday, ruining seven innings of shutout baseball by Clayton Kershaw.
It might have been the curtain call performance of Craig Kimbrel as closer, too.
The Dodgers had a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning. They didn’t exactly give Kershaw a ton of run support.
But it’s nothing new to Kershaw. He just put together another scoreless gem and gave his team a chance to win, sweep the Padres and extend the Dodgers lead in the National League West standings.
Then Kimbrel happened.
He not only gave up the lead, he gave up four runs in the ninth inning. The Dodgers were down, 4-1 and in position to disappoint Dodger Nation again.
The Dodgers managed to scratch across a run in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run at the plate, but the game ended with the Padres winning, 4-2.
Still, it was a good week for the Dodgers, a winning week at any rate. They went 4-3, after losing two of three games to start the week against the Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers won the first game of the series against the Padres, 3-1, on Thursday night in a total team effort. Mitch White started and left in the fifth inning. Justin Turner hit two home runs and looked like his old self for at least one game. Kimbrel came in and pitched an uneventful ninth inning for his 14th save.
The Dodgers continued rolling against the Padres on Friday. Tony Gonsolin pitched into the eighth inning, became the first pitcher to win 10 games in the National League, and lowered his ERA to 1.54 in a 5-1 win over the Padres.
Gonsolin improved to 10-0 and looks like the leader in the clubhouse to start the All Star Game.
Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger showed signs of life and hit home runs. It looked like a series with the Padres is just what some of the Dodgers needed to get back on track.
Tyler Anderson started for the Dodgers in the third game of the series against the Padres.
He made his best pitch for the All Star team, improving to 9-1, pitching into the seventh inning of a 7-2 win over the Padres on Saturday.
The Dodgers hit three home runs in the first inning and doused any hopes of a Padres uprising early.
After Saturday’s game, the Dodgers were 14-1 against the Padres in their past 15 games, had an eight-game winning streak against the Padres in Dodger Stadium, and sent a message to all of San Diego that they are the second best city in the National League West.
But after Kimbrel blew the save for the Dodgers on Sunday, manager Dave Roberts said he was going to give him some rest. Kimbrel said his back was tight and he might be injured. It looks like the Dodgers will give him some time to heal and think about what he did to the team on Sunday.
As for the Padres, they are still looking for a spot on the Dodgers rivalry list, and they can’t even crack the top 10.
Dodgers rival power rankings:
- San Francisco Giants
- New York Yankees
- St. Louis Cardinals
- New York Mets
- Atlanta Braves
- Montreal Expos
- Los Angeles Angels
- Oakland A’s
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Houston Astros
The Dodgers (49-29) have a 3.5 game lead over the Padres in the National League West standings. They start a three-game series against the Rockie Monday at Dodger Stadium and finish the week with a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.
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