MLB – San Diego at Los Angeles

With the Diamondbacks recent surge in the NL West standings


2007-09-11

With the Diamondbacks recent surge in the NL West standings, San Diego and Los Angeles find themselves with the unenviable task of chasing them the rest of the way. With the Padres and Dodgers beginning a three-game series Tuesday, the loser of the set figures to be in trouble.

The Dodgers play their next six games at home against the only two teams ahead of them in the NL West. Starting a climb up the standings will be a challenge on Tuesday, however, when they meet San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy.

Peavy, the major league leader in ERA, looks to win his seventh straight decision against Los Angeles when the Padres visit Dodger Stadium for the opener of a three-game series.

Peavy (16-6, 2.43 ERA) is 8-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 17 career starts versus the Dodgers. In his last 11 outings against them, the right-hander is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA, including 2-0 in four starts this season. Peavy's only loss to the Dodgers was a 4-0 defeat Sept. 13, 2003.

He'll look to extend his streak against Los Angeles while helping the Padres (77-65) inch closer to a third straight postseason appearance. San Diego, which has won consecutive NL West titles, trails division-leading Arizona but leads the wild card race.
The Dodgers (75-68) are 2 1/2 games behind the Padres entering the clubs' final three regular-season meetings. Los Angeles, which has lost nine of 15 games against San Diego, will host Arizona for a three-game series this weekend.

While the Dodgers went 5-5 on their road trip, the Padres are 2-4 on theirs following Sunday's 4-2 loss to Colorado - yet another contender in the crowded NL West race.

To rebound, San Diego will need a better effort from Peavy, who is coming off his worst start of the season. He convinced manager Bud Black to let him start Wednesday's game against Arizona on three days' rest, but was tagged for a career high-tying eight earned runs in just four innings of San Diego's 9-6 loss.

The Dodgers will turn to Esteban Loaiza (1-0, 3.86), who has delivered a quality start in each of his three outings since returning from a back injury that made him miss the first 4 1/2 months of the season. Loaiza started his first two games for Oakland before Los Angeles acquired him off waivers Aug. 29. He's 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA overall this year.

The right-hander made his Dodgers debut last Monday, holding the Chicago Cubs to three runs in seven innings in an 11-3 win. Loaiza is 1-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 11 career games, including eight starts, against the Padres. He's winless in eight games against them since 1998.

The most powerful StatFox trend on this game favors the Padres and would suggest that the Dodgers have little chance to make an impact in the pennant race this week:

LA DODGERS are 3-20 (-18.8 Units) against the money line when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 54% to 62%) in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons. The average score was LA DODGERS 3.0, OPPONENT 5.1 - (Rating = 4*)

Game time is 10:10 PM ET. Sign on to the Betting Trends and Team Statistics page for all the latest key game information.

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