Tonight the Padres vs. Dodgers rivalry is renewed

Some Los Angeles Dodgers fans like to say that this regular season rivalry means more to San Diego Padres fans than it does for them but then you see how many fans like to travel to San Diego when the Dodgers visit Petco Park and it makes you think that it means a lot to their fans as well.

Do you know who it also means a lot to? Dave Roberts.

The Dodgers manager moved around his starting rotation so that they would have their best three arms going tonight, tomorrow and Sunday night at Petco Park. Los Angeles called up their fourth-ranked prospect Gavin Stone to pitch in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, which allowed Roberts to keep Noah Syndergaard (6.32 ERA) and Tony Gonsolin (not fully built up) from pitching in San Diego.

“I think there’s something to that,” Roberts told the Los Angeles media this week about setting up his rotation for the Friars.

The Dodgers got embarrassed by the Padres in the postseason last year so there’s no doubt that they’re motivated to show that San Diego shouldn’t be considered the favorite in the NL West. They’re playing better baseball after a 10-11 start, as they’ve won each of their last six games.

The Padres, on the other hand, are also playing better as of late, having won four out of their last five games. San Diego is getting better production out of Juan Soto, as the 24-year-old is hitting .471 with 8 RBI and a 1.522 OPS in the last five games.

Below are the pitching matchups and where you can tune into this weekends games:

Today: Clayton Kershaw (LAD) vs. Yu Darvish (SD)

First Pitch: 6:40 pm PT, Bally Sports San Diego, 97.3 The Fan

Kershaw’s last outing (April 29): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 9 K

Darvish’s last outing (April 30): 6 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 9 K

Saturday: Dustin May (LAD) vs. Blake Snell (SD)

First Pitch: 5:40 pm PT, Bally Sports San Diego, 97.3 The Fan

May’s last outing (April 28): 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 K

Snell’s last outing (May 1): 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 K

Sunday: Julio Urias (LAD) vs. Joe Musgrove (SD)

First Pitch: 4:10 pm PT, ESPN, 97.3 The Fan

Urias’ last outing (May 2): 7 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 10 K

Musgrove’s last outing (April 29): 3.1 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K