Padres Looking To Keep First Place In NL West In Game 2 Against Dodgers

The San Diego Padres jumped in front of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West division by a half-game after defeating its biggest rival 1-0 Monday night.

There was only nine hits in the game and the Dodgers outhit the Padres, but designated hitter Miguel Andujar’s first of two hits was the deciding factor in this contest.

Andujar drilled a solo home run to left center off Dodgers ace right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning, which would be the only run scored by either team. Facing off against the other team’s ace, San Diego’s Michael King was up to the task and outdueled Yamamoto.

King threw seven shutout innings and allowed four hits and two walks while striking out nine batters to earn his fourth win of the season. Yamamoto also pitched seven innings and allowed one fewer hit, but the homer by Andujar placed the loss on the 27-year-old’s record; he walked two and struck out eight.

Padres closer Mason Miller picked up his Major League Baseball-leading 15th save but walked two batters to up the ante. He has a 0.82 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 45 strikeouts in 21 appearances (22 innings).

The Padres will need right-hander Griffin Canning to pitch how he did in his season debut to compete with a hungry and dangerous Dodgers lineup, which will be supporting Los Angeles righty Emmet Sheehan in Game 2 of the three-game set.

Canning pitched well against the Chicago White Sox in his first appearance for San Diego, which was also his first game since rupturing his left Achilles tendon a year ago. He threw five innings and allowed one run on three hits and three walks while punching out seven, but he was tagged for six runs each by the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in his last two starts.

Canning has a 0-2 record with a 10.64 ERA and 2.18 WHIP in 11 innings of work.

Sheehan is 3-1 with a 4.54 ERA and 1.25 WHIP through eight starts (41.2 innings) this season and has just two starts where he has allowed more than three runs (four both times).

The 26-year-old had a quality start his last time out against the rival San Francisco Giants, pitching six innings of two-run ball on two hits and two walks while fanning six to earn his third win of the year.

A Padres win will secure the series victory and put the team 1.5 games ahead of Los Angeles going into the finale.

First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.