
Dodgers aim to sweep series against the Padres
Los Angeles; Sunday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.61 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 29 strikeouts); Dodgers: Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.08 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 64 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Dodgers -155, Padres +128; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres square off in the final game of a three-game series. The Dodgers can sweep the series with a win.
Los Angeles has a 70-53 record overall and a 40-24 record at home. The Dodgers have a 55-12 record in games when they scored five or more runs.
San Diego is 31-34 in road games and 69-54 overall. Padres hitters are batting a collective .251, which ranks fifth in the NL.
Sunday's game is the 10th time these teams match up this season. The Dodgers have a 7-2 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Will Smith leads the Dodgers with a .306 batting average, and has 19 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs, 58 walks and 54 RBIs. Mookie Betts is 14 for 41 with a home run and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.
Manny Machado has 30 doubles and 20 home runs while hitting .294 for the Padres. Xander Bogaerts is 10 for 40 with three doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Dodgers: 5-5, .262 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Padres: 7-3, .259 batting average, 3.26 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs
INJURIES: Dodgers: Max Muncy: 10-Day IL (oblique), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tommy Edman: 10-Day IL (ankle), Kirby Yates: 15-Day IL (back), Hyeseong Kim: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Scott: 15-Day IL (elbow), Michael Kopech: 60-Day IL (knee), Kike Hernandez: 10-Day IL (elbow), Roki Sasaki: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tony Gonsolin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Evan Phillips: 60-Day IL (forearm), Kyle Hurt: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Grove: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brusdar Graterol: 60-Day IL (shoulder), River Ryan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Gavin Stone: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Padres: Michael King: 15-Day IL (knee), Jhony Brito: 60-Day IL (forearm), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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New York Post
26 minutes ago
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Fox Sports
26 minutes ago
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The Padres, with a lineup lacking depth at that point, were more playoff hopefuls than legitimate championship contenders. That has since changed. For the past two months, the Padres have again demonstrated their willingness to do whatever it takes to win now. Their litany of moves at the deadline, which emptied the upper levels of their farm system in an effort to bring a championship to San Diego as quickly as possible, epitomized that. The Dodgers, meanwhile, scoffed at the prices for top talents on the market and have since paid the price for a quiet deadline, scuffling over the past few weeks with a tattered bullpen while the Padres reap the rewards of their audaciousness. With a new-look roster, the Padres entered this weekend — and a stretch of six crucial games in 10 days against the Dodgers — having won 14 of their last 17 games. In the process, they went from trailing in the division by six games on July 25 to leading it by one less than three weeks later. 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Their depleted bullpen and volatile lineup had prevented the group from reaching its potential. "I do think that there are some things that we can get that tightened up," Roberts said. "When you're playing against a really good ballclub, and it's going to be 50,000-plus here, excited fans, that kind of heightens intensity and focus." So does having Kershaw on the mound. On Friday at home, Kershaw ended the Dodgers' four-game skid and lowered his ERA for the year to 3.01 with six innings of one-run ball. "It's a game in August, obviously," Kershaw said. "It's not that huge a deal. But the way we were going, it felt like a big game for us." Before the series began, Roberts said he would manage the series with more urgency, considering the opponent and the circumstances, but added that it's still not Game 7 of the World Series. 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"We've had our chances to win games by one or two runs, and we just weren't able to pull them off there in the last week. We were able to pull them off this week…So gotta keep it going, keep our foot on the gas." Mookie Betts' eighth-inning solo shot proved to be the decided in Sunday's win. (Photo by Emma Sharon/MLB Photos via Getty Images) As the Dodgers wait for their top bullpen pieces to return to health, this weekend was the formula: clutch hits, sound defense and, most importantly, elite starting pitching performances from a rotation that is finally healthy and rounding into form. Starters Kershaw, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow combined to surrender three runs in 17 innings against the Padres' reloaded lineup. The Dodgers have now won eight times in 10 matchups against the Padres this year to secure the season series. The teams will meet for the final time this regular season next weekend in San Diego, when the Dodgers' urgency and intensity will be tested again. "I don't think anyone in that clubhouse doubted our abilities and how good we can be," Roberts said. "Honestly, it was just good to play a really good series, start to finish. I think we respect those guys, I think they respect us, and now we've got to turn the page and move on." Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner . What did you think of this story? share
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Clutch performances by Betts and Vesia help Dodgers sweep Padres for first time since 2023
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia gave up the tying run to the San Diego Padres in the eighth inning and was told he was out of the game. A defiant Vesia said no. He went to manager Dave Roberts and told him he wanted the ball again in the ninth if the Dodgers regained the lead. They did, on Mookie Betts' tiebreaking homer, and Vesia was back on the mound facing the Padres' top three hitters. 'It's one of those moments where you got to just trust your player,' Roberts said, 'and I trusted him.' Vesia induced pop fouls from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez before striking out Manny Machado to end the game. Vesia screamed in celebration as the crowd roared. The 5-4 victory extended the Dodgers' lead over the Padres in the NL West to two games. San Diego arrived in Los Angeles with a one-game lead along with a five-game winning streak. The Dodgers came in on a four-game skid. They improved to 8-2 against the Padres this season with their first three-game sweep of San Diego since May 12-13, 2023. The Padres got swept for the first time since May 20-22 at Toronto while getting outscored 14-6. 'We know as a group how good we are and last three games it's shown,' Vesia said. 'We put our heads down and we're going to keep going.' The teams face each other again starting Friday in San Diego. 'What I saw was urgency,' Roberts said. 'The way we played is what we should expect.' Vesia had been in a funk in August, with a 7.20 ERA in seven appearances and opponents hitting .353 against him. He gave up an RBI groundout to Jose Iglesias that tied the game at 4 in the eighth. Then Betts rescued the Dodgers with the 394-foot shot to left-center off Robert Suarez. It was the shortstop's 13th homer of the season and just his fifth since June. Betts had 25 in 2022 and 39 in 2023. 'Finally I did something good for the boys,' Betts said. 'I feel like I've done a decent job with the glove, but with the bat I haven't really done much.' Dogged by injuries, slumping offense and bullpen woes in recent weeks, the Dodgers saw their nine-game division lead evaporate earlier in the week. They have 1 1/2 months left to get themselves in a stronger position to open defense of their World Series championship. 'The last three days we sort of performed and not just talked about it,' Roberts said, 'so that was really good to see.' ___ AP MLB: