When you take a closer look at the numbers, everything points toward the Dodgers winning a 10th straight game at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
Overall, the Dodgers are 60-29 this season. And they are a remarkable 37-9 at home. Plus, they have Clayton Kershaw (7-2, 3.23 ERA this season) going — and the left-hander has a history of dominating the Padres. Not to mention that the Padres have lost five straight to slip to three games below .500.
However, left-hander Eric Lauer is starting for the Padres on Friday.
On the season, Lauer is just 5-7 this season with a 4.22 ERA in 16 starts. Opponents are hitting .267 against Lauer, who has a 1.34 WHIP. Those numbers aren’t overly impressive. And he is 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA in his last four starts.
But Lauer has a 3-0 career record against the Dodgers with a 1.46 ERA, a 1.054 WHIP and a .204 opponents’ batting average. In his lone career start at Dodger Stadium, Lauer held the Dodgers to one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts over five innings in earning a win against Los Angeles’ challenging lineup last September.
The second-year pitcher, who was one of three Padres’ first-round picks in the 2016 draft, faced the Dodgers once this season on May 3 and held them to two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings.
“I can’t explain it,” Lauer said earlier this year when asked about his record — it is too early to call it domination — against the Dodgers. “I think everyone gets a little extra boost when they are facing the Dodgers, that has to be expected. But I can’t say why it has gone the way it has. All I’m hoping is that is doesn’t change.”
As for Padres manager Andy Green, he doesn’t really like talking about Lauer’s record against their immediate neighbors to the north.
“We’re very early in the story of Lauer and the Dodgers,” said Green. “But we’re happy with how it has gone thus far.”
The reeling Padres desperately need Lauer’s success to continue Friday night against the Dodgers. San Diego’s present skid started Sunday with a loss to the Cardinals at Petco Park before they were swept by the Giants at home. The Padres have gone from being within a game of a wild-card berth to fourth in the division and three games below .500 over the course of five straight losses.
Now they have three road games against the imposing Dodgers before the All-Star break.
And then there’s the matter of Kershaw.
Although he is only 31, Kershaw already has a 19-6 career record against the Padres with a 2.02 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP and a .191 opponents’ batting average in 36 career starts.
Kershaw is 1-0 against the Padres in two starts this season with a 4.15 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and a .234 OBA — allowing six runs on 11 hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts in 13 innings. He lost his most recent start in Colorado, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings as he had some shoddy defensive support.
“If we played clean baseball, which we’ve done many times over, we win that game,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.