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Dodgers visit Padres in U.S. opener on Sunday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 3/30/2014  at  5:33:00 AM
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LOS ANGELES DODGERS (2-0)

at SAN DIEGO PADRES (0-0)

First pitch: Sunday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -110, San Diego +100, Total: 6.5

The Padres open their 2014 season on Sunday night when they host the front-runner to win the World Series, the Dodgers.

Los Angeles has made it safely back to the United States after a very successful trip “down under” where it won the first two games of the 2014 MLB regular season. They Dodgers surpassed the Yankees this season as the team with the highest payroll in baseball and look to continue their success from last season when they won the NL West by 11 games. San Diego added plenty of pitching depth in the offseason, signing right-handed starters Ian Kennedy and Josh Johnson as well as relievers RHP Joaquin Benoit and LHP Alex Torres. The Padres hope these moves can push them over .500 and compete in the West in 2014. LHP Clayton Kershaw was the expected starter for this game but a concern with a stiff back had him scratched, and LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu will make his second start of the season after pitching five scoreless innings in a win over the Diamondbacks in Australia. The Padres will counter with RHP Andrew Cashner (10-9, 3.09 ERA in 2013) on the mound. Los Angeles had the edge in this series last season, going 11-8 against San Diego, including a 6-4 record at Petco Park. The Padres had no issues holding their own at home last year, producing a 45-36 record there (.556) while the Dodgers had an identical 45-36 record when playing in road games.

Los Angeles was looking forward to having its ace pitch in two of its first three games, but will be happy to get a second start from Ryu. In his five scoreless innings on the mound against the Diamondbacks, he allowed just two hits while striking out five and walking only one batter. He pitched only once against San Diego in his rookie campaign last season, earning a win while giving up eight hits and a run over 6.1 innings while striking out six. None of the current Padres have faced Ryu more than three times and they will be looking for youngster 1B Yonder Alonso to take a step forward after an impressive spring where he was 20-for-47 (.426 BA), four doubles, 2 HR and 4 RBI. The Dodgers relievers combined to go 30-24 with a 3.49 ERA last season while converting 46-of-65 save opportunities (71%). Their offseason addition of RHP Chris Perez should also help at the end of games and add depth to an already strong relief group. Closer Kenley Jansen converted 28-of-32 save chances (88%) last season and sported a 1.88 ERA while striking out 13.0 batters per nine innings. He pitched in both games against Arizona, tossing 1.1 innings while earning a save in his first outing, but also giving up a homer in his second start.

The Padres have one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in all of baseball and Andrew Cashner took advantage of this in his first full season as a starting pitcher. His K/9 dropped dramatically from 2012 when he was a relief pitcher (10.1 K/9) to 2013 when he took over as a starter (6.6 K/9). Cashner pitched in six games (3 starts) against the Dodgers last season, going 0-1 with a 1.35 ERA (1.16 WHIP) and striking out 20 in 26.2 IP. He threw 7+ innings in each of his three starts against them and allowed only three total runs in that time. None of the current Los Angeles batters have homered against Cashner, but 1B Adrian Gonzalez (5-for-13, 1 RBI), 3B Juan Uribe (4-for-8, 2 doubles), OF Carl Crawford (3-for-9) and OF Andre Ethier (3-for-8, 2 BB) have all had success when facing him. Meanwhile, youngster OF Yasiel Puig has not done well in this matchup, going 1-for-9 with 3 strikeouts. The Padres had a solid bullpen in 2013, going 25-29 with a 3.39 ERA (1.26 WHIP) and should only improve with the additions of Joaquin Benoit and Alex Torres. Closer Huston Street (2.70 ERA, 33 saves in 2013) has 234 career saves (85.1% save percentage), but has struggled over 32 games against Los Angeles with a 4.55 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.


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