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To hold on to their slim NL West lead, the
Los Angeles Dodgers
have to do something they've failed to do this season - beat the
San Diego Padres
at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers (77-69) look to avoid their sixth straight home loss to the Padres (76-69) on Friday when the division rivals
open a four-game series, which may go a long way toward deciding the NL West winner.
''I'm sure they're going to be ready to go and everything,'' Padres center fielder
Mike Cameron
said of the series. ''And it's going to be a big Friday night matinee in LA.''
Los Angeles, winner of 16 of 19 at home, begins its final homestand of the season. The Dodgers also will face sub-.500 teams
Pittsburgh and Arizona before playing their final six on the road at Colorado and San Francisco.
Despite being tied for the NL's second-best home record (44-27), Los Angeles has been outscored 38-17 in losing all five matchups
with the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers have a half-game lead over San Diego in the division. The Padres hold a 2 1/2-game lead over Philadelphia and
San Francisco for the wild card while Florida is only three games back.
After a seven-game winning streak, Los Angeles has lost seven of its last 11 games, including two of three to the lowly
Chicago Cubs
following a 6-5 loss Thursday afternoon. Reliever
Brett Tomko
gave up an RBI single and
Aramis Ramirez
's three-run homer in the seventh, erasing a three-run lead.
''We've been through this before. We've had some awfully tough losses,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ''This was another
one today. We just have to put it behind us, come back (Friday) and start a big series with San Diego and see what happens.''
The Padres are surging, going 16-8 since Aug. 18 as they try to win their second straight division title.
San Diego swept a three-game series from Cincinnati, another wild-card hopeful, with a 4-2 win Thursday. Cameron had a two-run
double in a four-run seventh as the Padres snapped a scoreless tie.
''Oh, man, it's about as big as it can get around here,'' he said. ''We've got a little bit of energy and momentum going into
LA.''
David Wells
(0-0, 4.09 ERA) tries to rebound from a shaky outing when he makes his third start since returning to the Padres. The veteran
left-hander and San Diego-area native went 12-8 with a 3.73 ERA for the Padres in 2004, but has yet to win since being re-acquired
from Boston on Aug. 31.
Wells allowed four runs and seven hits - including
Barry Bonds
' 731st homer - over five innings in a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to San Francisco on Saturday.
''I couldn't throw a curveball to save my (butt),'' Wells said of his shortest start since July 31. ''It was flat, and I was
fighting it. The fastball (Bonds) hit got too much of the plate, belt-high, where anybody in the league would want it. You
kind of expect it to get waffled.''
The 43-year-old left-hander made just eight starts with the
Red Sox
this season, going 2-3 with a 4.98 ERA, after three stints on the disabled list with right knee problems.
He is 1-1 with a 7.04 ERA in three career starts versus the Dodgers, but is facing them for the first time since 2004.
San Diego picked up Wells to provide another veteran mound presence to make a playoff run. He will be opposed by
Greg Maddux
(12-13, 4.38), who the Dodgers picked up for the same reason.
The four-time Cy Young Award winner, acquired July 31 from the Cubs for shortstop
Cesar Izturis
, allowed three runs and five hits over 5 1-3 innings in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the
New York Mets
.
Maddux was 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his first six starts for the Dodgers, holding opponents to a .236 batting average. Since
then, he's gone 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA and .366 opponent batting average.
The 40-year-old right-hander is 23-15 with a 3.07 ERA in 43 career starts against the Padres. He's 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in
two starts this season, both while with Chicago.
He is 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts at Dodger Stadium since joining Los Angeles.
''I like to pitch in Dodger Stadium. I like the defense behind me,'' Maddux said. ''Those guys back there can catch it. They
catch a lot of ground balls back there. Sometimes there are four shortstops in the infield, and as a pitcher, that's pretty
cool.''
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