The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon at Petco Park in San Diego.
The Dodgers have twice overcome early deficits to defeat the Padres in the first two games of the much-anticipated three-game series between Southern California’s two National League teams.
Meanwhile, the Padres, who entered the series just 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, have lost five of seven.
At least one record could be set Sunday in the third sellout of the series. If the Padres and Dodgers — and many of the fans for the first two games motored down from Los Angeles — draw 44,329 on Sunday, the record of 133,311 spectators for a three-game series at 15-year-old Petco Park will fall.
So the stage is set for the Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda (3-2, 4.41 ERA) to face Padres left-handed rookie Nick Margevicius (2-3, 3.23 ERA).
Clearly, blown leads were not what Padres manager Andy Green was hoping for as his much-improved Padres took on the current dominant team in the division.
“We want to win every series we play,” Green said Saturday afternoon before the Padres failed to hold an early against the Dodgers for a second straight night. “I think we’re equipped to do that. That doesn’t mean you win every series. But the group we have here is capable of going out and beating any team in baseball on a given day.
“It’s a good spot to be in. That wasn’t always the case for us last year. If we played our best game and somebody else played their best game, we might not have come out on top. We have enough confidence that if we play the kind of game we want to play, we can come out on top. Our guys relish the chance to play a good opponent. The buzz (at Petco Park) is great.”
But much of that buzz has been created by Dodger fans — another problem facing the Padres just six weeks into the 2019 season. The Padres are 11-6 on the road, but only 7-10 at home.
The stopper will have to be the 22-year-old Margevicius, who will be making his first career appearance against the Dodgers. The Padres have a 3-3 record in Margevicius’ first six starts, and he has given up two or fewer earned runs in five of those. He limited opponents to one earned run in four outings, but lost two of those games.
Margevicius has allowed 24 hits in 30 2/3 innings, although he issued eight walks in 10 2/3 innings over his last two outings. That is a bit unusual for the 6-foot-4 command specialist, who issued only 17 walks in 135 minor league innings (all in Class-A) last season.
Maeda went five shutout innings at the Giants in his most recent start, allowing seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He is averaging 7.71 strikeouts per nine innings this season with a 1.87-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Maeda has a 5-3 career record against the Padres with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 13 starts covering 59 1/3 innings. He is averaging 11.53 strikeouts per nine innings against the Padres.
Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger is expected to play after sitting out Saturday with a shoulder injury.
“He’s playable today, but still sore,” manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday’s game. “Under the circumstances and where we are in the season, we just want to make sure he’s really on solid ground.”