Game Preview 8/20/14 Dodgers vs. Padres

The Padres spoiled an early 3-run lead and lost 8-6 to the Dodgers on Tuesday night. Despite a 4-for-5 night from Abraham Almonte, a  3-run homer from Jedd Gyorko, and 14 total hits from the Padres, the Dodgers strength was just too much for the Friars.

Wednesday night it will be recently hot Eric Stults (5-13) going up against Roberto Hernandez (7-8), formerly known of course as Fausto Carmona, and he has gone 1-0 in his first two starts as a Dodger since coming over from Philadelphia. At one time he was a top young starting pitcher but those days seem behind him. Meanwhile former Dodger Eric Stults has managed to compile a 2-0 record and 1.37 ERA in August so far.

Though the Padres still are near the top in offensive categories for the second half – matching up against the Dodgers still reminds the Padres of what they are not.

They are facing off against Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia, two veterans the Dodgers have brought in essentially to keep their core staff of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Josh Beckett fresh down the stretch to get ready for the playoffs. The Padres are not facing their A-team is my point – and they still can’t beat them.

In a roster move for the Padres, Cameron Maybin has been re-instated from his rehab assignment and Jace Peterson sent back to Triple-A. While Peterson has shown athleticism in the majors, he hasn’t quite capitalized on his opportunity the way Tommy Medica or Rymer Liriano seem to be.

Wednesday night the Dodgers will have second baseman Darwin Barney batting lead-off and 5th outfielder Scott Van Slyke batting cleanup. Puig bats second. This allows them to load their lineup with right-handed hitters as Adrian Gonzalez is the lone left-handed bat.

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It’s a tough assignment for Stults anytime Yasiel Puig is near a baseball field, but given the junior varsity-look of the lineup and Roberto Hernandez not being Kershaw or Greinke, Stults might just be able to stay hot and steal one from LA tonight.