Dodgers Sweep Series from Padres to Regain Lead in NL West

The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed the San Diego Padres to Dodger stadium for a weekend series on August 15th-17th. At stake was the lead in the National League West. The 1st place Padres held a one game lead over the2nd place Dodgers. L.A. had endured a stretch of mediocrity (10-14) since the All Star Break, while San Diego had gone 17-8 to catch up with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers led the season series 5-2, and had taken three of four in L.A. Could they continue that success against their rivals to the south?

The answer was yes. In the opener, Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh in what proved to be the winning run in a 3-2 Dodger victory. Clayton Kershaw was the winning pitcher (7-2) allowing just one run and two hits in six innings for his 219th career victory.

In Game 2, Blake Snell pitched six scoreless innings against his former team in a 6-0 Dodger victory. San Diego starter Dylan Cease allowed just two hits in 3 1/3 innings, but he also walked six and allowed five runs, although only three were earned as center fielder Jackson Merrill dropped a fly ball allowing two runs to score.

Los Angeles got off to a 4-0 start in the finale on the 17th, but San Diego chipped away with one run in each of the third, fifth, sixth and eighth innings, tying it at 4-4 going into the bottom of the eighth. Mookie Betts hit a solo home run to lead off the eighth and the Dodgers took a 5-4 lead, which they held the rest of the way for a series sweep and a two game lead in the NL West.