Baseball, MLB

Dodgers And Padres Games Look To Be Nail-Biters All Season

LOS ANGELES, CA — This season, the Dodgers face the Giants, Padres, Rockies, and Diamondbacks 13 times each. As a result, interleague games increased from 20 to 46. However, that means they only make two visits to opposing National League West cities and play 52 divisional games (down from 76). In addition, the wacky 2023 MLB schedule had them playing eight of their first ten games against Arizona.

How MLB can call this Padre vs. Dodgers, a rivalry is beyond me. Last year they met 23 times, and this year they will meet only 12 times. Furthermore, after this three-game series, they will not face each other until August fourth and then not until September eleventh. This scheduling is one reason the regular season means less than it used to.

Juan Soto, 2021 National League LatinoMVP – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports

But here we are on a beautiful and sunny day in LA as the 23-15 Dodgers face their division “Rivals,” who are 19-19. The Padres starting lineup is batting .236, and the Dodgers’ starters are hitting .228.

Before the game began, Braves fan Tony Stutevosss, told me, “I think it’s gonna be high scoring. I have a feeling.”

Dodger starter Dustin May looked great until he ran out of gas in the top of the seventh inning. Then, he left with a line of 6.2 innings, five hits, two runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.

Dustin May dominated Padres in series opener – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports

Blake Snell was touched for two runs in the third inning and pitched well enough to win. But those big Padre’s bats were held in check by May, who allowed San Diego to tie it in the seventh inning. The Dodger future Hall of Famers Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman then hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the final nail in the coffin with a 4-2 opening series win. As for that Braves fan, what does he know about West Coast rivalries?