Padres Heating Up, Can Clinch Series Against Division-Leading Dodgers

After going through a prolonged funk that saw the team fall out of the wild card, the San Diego Padres appear to be heating up again, winning its last four games against the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Padres beat the Dodgers handily, 7-1, as right-hander and World Series champion with the Dodgers Walker Buehler pitched into the sixth inning.

Buehler allowed just one run through 5.1 innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five to pick up his fifth win of the season. He outdueled right-hander Roki Sasaki, who pitched just four innings and allowed three runs on three hits and five walks while fanning two.

Los Angeles took the lead in the second inning after shortstop Mookie Betts drilled his 301st career home run, but that would be the only time a Dodger crossed home plate. Padres first baseman Ty France unloaded for a three-run jack to put San Diego in front 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning.

Although that was all the support the pitching staff needed, the Padres put together a four-run eighth inning to put it further out of reach.

San Diego has won six of its last eight but will have a tougher task on their hands in the second game of this three-game set, as Dodgers ace righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to toe the rubber against Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez.

Yamamoto has had a great season thus far, going 7-5 with a 2.65 ERA (ninth), 0.87 WHIP (second) and 86 strikeouts to 17 walks through 14 starts (91.2 innings). Despite missing a couple of starts, the 27-year-old is on pace to throw 180 innings.

He wasn’t as good against the Baltimore Orioles as he was against the Chicago White Sox, but he still produced a quality start in his last outing versus the O’s. He completed six innings and allowed three runs on six hits and two walks while punching out six.

Vasquez had an impressive start to the season and has been an anchor for the starting rotation for the most part, but he has been hit hard over his last handful of appearances. He is 6-5 with a 4.17 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 59 strikeouts to 25 walks through 15 starts (77.2 innings).

The righty was shelled by the Texas Rangers in his last outing, allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and three walks while striking out one.

First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. PDT on MLB Network, MLB.TV and regional sports networks.