Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. Sends Dodgers Message Ahead of NL West Showdown
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This weekend's series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers is about as dramatic as the baseball gods could have drawn up.
Obviously, these two teams have had some spicy confrontations in the past. They've also met in the playoffs twice in the last three years, with each team winning one.
And after the Dodgers led the National League West by nine games at the start of play on July 4, the Padres lead by one entering Friday's opener in Los Angeles after a shocking turn of events.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 12: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres looks on from the dugout against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the first inning of a major...
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 12: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres looks on from the dugout against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the first inning of a major league baseball game at Oracle Park on August 12, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)San Diego hasn't won a division title since 2006, and the Dodgers have won 11 of the last 12. The Padres know the history, yet they don't sound like they're being deterred from thinking they have the better team.
Nor should they be, because as star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. illustrated before the series opener, their destiny is in their own hands.
"That's what we're playing for," Tatis Jr. said, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. "And, you know, we have to take the lead in first place and stay consistent. This is the team to do it. So it's now a matter of fact, it's in our hands, how much we want it."
The Dodgers won five of the first seven matchups between the two squads earlier this year, so the Padres would have to win five of the final six to steal back the tiebreaker. But they're already ahead, so they'd rather just maintain that lead.
Tatis, meanwhile, has batted .261 with 19 home runs against the Dodgers in his career during the regular season, and last October, he belted three home runs in an eventual loss in the Division Series.
It's going to be a pressure-packed, riveting showdown, and it begins with future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw on the mound at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
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