FanPost

San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Series Preview

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played against each other last weekend in what was the best series of the season so far. All three games could’ve gone either way with the Dodgers coming out victorious, winning two out of three at Petco Park.

But what’s in store this weekend? Only time will tell.

As for how each team has done since they saw each other, it's varying results. The Dodgers only played two games in Seattle and split the series thanks to Julio Urias and the bullpen throwing a shutout in the series finale.

The Padres got swept by Milwaukee, as their offense was nowhere to be found against the Brewers' two top arms--Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes--combining to score one run in the first two games and three runs in the entire series. San Diego went 1-5 on their home stand and now sit at 10-10.

Some fans might want to say that the Padres offense going cold is terrible right now especially considering that the Dodgers series is next, but it's important to remember that their offense wasn't great in Pittsburgh when they split the four-game set, but were still able to hang with the Dodgers last weekend.

Here is how the pitching will line up for the second Padres-Dodgers series of the season (which I discussed in my new "Talking Friars" podcast):

Thursday, April 22 (First Pitch 7:10 pm): Ryan Weathers (SD) vs. Walker Buehler (LAD)

TV: Bally Sports San Diego, Radio: 97.3 The Fan

Ryan Weathers was put in a pressure-packed situation on Friday. Not only was he tasked with facing arguably the best lineup in the league, but it was the first Major League start of his career. With that said, he stayed composed and pitched very well, allowing just one hit without any runs coming across the plate.

The 21-year-old rookie should end his night with about the same amount of pitches he had last week (79) with someone like Craig Stammen or Pierce Johnson coming in to be the bridge to the back end of the bullpen (if the Padres have a lead or the game is close).

Buehler, on the other hand, was solid on Friday, as expected. He got through the lineup pretty easily before allowing two earned runs on a Luis Campusano single in the second and a Fernando Tatis Jr. solo home run to center field in the fifth. Of course, that was just the beginning of an almost five hour game that lasted until after midnight.

Friday, April 23 (First Pitch 7:10 pm): Yu Darvish (SD) vs. Clayton Kershaw (LAD)

TV: Bally Sports San Diego, Radio: 97.3 The Fan

Darvish versus Kershaw was the pitching matchup of the weekend. Darvish ended up losing the battle because he had one bad inning where he walked Kershaw with the bases loaded. Other than that, all the 2020 NL Cy Young runner-up did was strike out nine batters and give up one base hit.

Regardless of how Darvish did, it was going to be hard to beat Kershaw though because the future Hall of Famer was on his game from the very start. Just two Padres recorded hits in Kershaw's six innings of work and the lineup combined to strike out eight times. Most fans are going to remember this game as the one where Kershaw yelled at Jurickson Profar for making a "b---s--- swing" on a catcher's interference call.

We shall see if Kershaw gets emotional again less than a week later.

Saturday, April 24 (First Pitch 6:10 pm): Blake Snell (SD) vs. Trevor Bauer (LAD)

TV: Bally Sports San Diego, Radio: 97.3 The Fan

Another great pitching matchup last weekend was Blake Snell, who dominated the Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series, going up against Trevor Bauer, the reigning NL Cy Young award winner. Snell was dealing with "the biggest hole" on the mound created by Bauer but still managed to get through five innings with seven strikeouts.

Bauer, who was making his first start at Petco Park, also was giving his opposition a hard time at the plate. The former Red allowed just one run on a Jake Cronenworth solo home run to right field before the Dodgers bullpen came in and blew the game in the eighth inning.

Sunday, April 25 (First Pitch 4:08 pm): Joe Musgrove (SD) vs. Dustin May (LAD)

TV: ESPN, Radio: 97.3 The Fan

The Padres are on Sunday Night Baseball? Yes, you're reading that correctly. It is the first time the Padres will get to be in the national spotlight to end the weekend since the 2014 season when the Padres hosted the Dodgers at home on Opening Night (Andrew Cashner was on the mound).

The country will get to see arguably the Padres' best pitcher this season on Sunday night. Joe Musgrove obviously became a hometown hero when he ended the 8,205 game streak without a no-hitter, but he has continued to pitch well.

He returned to Pittsburgh to pitch four innings of one run ball before coming back to Petco Park for his first home start since the no-hitter. Musgrove made two big mistakes but other than that, he was tremendous--logging a career-high 13 strikeout game. The only problem about his start on Monday was that the offense decided not to show up.

Hopefully, the offense does show up on Sunday night and they're going to need to because Dustin May is on the mound. Since it was only a three-game series last weekend, the Friars got lucky because they didn't have to face the 6'6'' right-hander. They might be catching him at the right time, as May struggled a little bit this week in Seattle, allowing two home runs to Jose Marmolejos and former Padres prospect Taylor Trammell.

In seven games against San Diego in his career, May has a 2.97 ERA with four home runs allowed and 25 strikeouts.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball staff or SB Nation.