Padres Need Dominant Start From Ace, Can Clinch Series Over Rival Dodgers

The San Diego Padres would love to flush Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which blew the Padres out of the water with a 15-3 onslaught to even the three-game series.

The Padres went down 1-0 early in the second inning after infielder Tommy Edman knocked in Max Muncy with a double, but first baseman Gavin Sheets nodded up the score with a moonshot home run to center field in the fifth inning.

Unfortunately for San Diego, the Dodgers put up a nine-run sixth inning that was highlighted by homers off the bats of right fielder Kyle Tucker, catcher Dalton Rushing and shortstop Mookie Betts. It’s hard to come back from down nine, and the Padres scored two more in the sixth and seventh innings, but Los Angeles piled on with four runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth.

It was a tough showing for San Diego’s pitching staff, as each of the five Padres pitchers allowed at least one run. Right-hander Randy Vasquez, who was listed as the probable starter, had a two-inning opener (Kyle Hart) and allowed five runs on eight hits and one walk with one strikeout in 3.1 innings of bulk relief.

Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto wasn’t at his best but he was effective and produced a quality start. The 27-year-old tossed six innings of two-run ball on five hits and two walks while punching out four to earn his eighth win of the season.

The finale of the series will consist of a pitching matchup between Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan and San Diego’s Michael King.

Sheehan was hot to begin the season but has cooled off drastically over the last couple of months. He is 3-5 with a 5.32 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 76 strikeouts to 20 walks through 14 starts (67.2 innings).

Sheehan last pitched against the Baltimore Orioles and was on the losing end of the 12-1 final. He allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out four.

King is the Padres’ ace and showed it in his last outing after running into some trouble in his last handful of starts. The 31-year-old is 5-6 with a 3.33 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 78 strikeouts to 35 walks through 16 starts (92 innings).

King tossed seven shutout innings of six-hit ball with five punchouts against the Atlanta Braves to earn his fifth win of the season.

First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.