The San Diego Padres have a magic number of two to get into the playoffs, but a familiar opponent is in the way.
For the San Diego Padres, this week’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers is the big one. They mark their series against their NL West rivals on the calendar early, but this time around it’s different from the usual tong war between these two teams.
The Dodgers have already clinched the division, but they come into this game two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in baseball, and they’re a half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in that race.
The Padres, meanwhile, have a magic number of two to clinch a wild-card berth, but which wild-card berth is still very much an open question. San Diego opens the series tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top spot, with the Phillies a game behind and the Arizona Diamondbacks trying to sneak into the playoffs at four games back.
That means plenty of math will come into play, but the outcome will depend far more on the pitching matchup, with Michael King being moved up in the rotation to face Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
King’s last outings was a successful one, as he pitched six innings against the Colorado Rockies and gave up just two runs last Thursday. The reason he’s being moved up is that manager Craig Stammen would love to clinch a playoff berth early this week, but if the Padres struggle as much as they have against LA he wants to have King available for the season finale against Arizona.
San Diego’s struggles against the Dodgers this year are probably a big part of the manager’s thought process. The Padres have been dominated to date, having lost seven of ten games. The last trip to LA resulted in the Padres dropping three of four, and they’re usually a lot more competitive against the Dodgers.
Yamomoto is typically a problem for everyone, though, and tonight probably won’t be an exception. His last two starts have come against the Cincinnati Reds, and he gave up one run over 14 innings while striking out a combined 17 hitters. His ERA for the season is a sparkling 2.51, and he’s struck out 178 hitters in 179 innings.
That means the Padres will probably be too focused to do too much scoreboard watching, but there will be opportunities. Arizona is at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies, while the Phillies host the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cubs welcome the Miami Marlins as the wild scramble for the playoffs starts to wind down.
