Padres Preview: 05/20 Christian Friedrich looks to impress against Dodgers

The Padres failed to win one against the division-leading Giants over the past three days, and tonight they'll start a series against another tough rival. The Dodgers come to town for the second time this season, hoping to continue their dominance at Petco Park. The Padres, meanwhile will just try to get back in the win column and possibly climb out of the NL West cellar this series. Tonight's series opener will pit Christian Friedrich against Scott Kazmir.

Friedrich is making his second start for the Padres, and it could be his last for the time being, with Andrew Cashner expected to return from the DL next week. Friedrich threw six innings and allowed only one run in his Padres debut last Friday. However, the left-hander issued six walks in that outing and it took him 116 pitches to get through those six innings. The former Rockie is no stranger to the Dodgers, but this will be the first time facing them as a starter. Through ten previous relief appearances against them, he gave up a combined seven runs through seven innings.

Kazmir pitched in the Opening Series between these two teams back in April, throwing six scoreless frames and earning the win. That was his third career start against San Diego and first win. Overall he's posted a 3.18 ERA against Padres hitters. But it's been an up-and-down year for Kazmir, who is 3-3 with a 4.89 ERA going into tonight's matchup. He is coming off arguably his best start of the year, an 8 2/3-inning performance against the Cardinals, who he kept to two runs on five hits and a walk.

Game time: 7:40 pm PT
Radio: The Mighty 1090, La Poderosa 860 (Sp.)
TV: FSSD, Fox Deportes San Diego (Sp.)

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