Dodgers Travel To San Diego for First Padres Series of the Season

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May 18, 2026 - 17:13

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Dodgers Travel To San Diego for First Padres Series of the Season

Aug 17, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates with Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) after hitting a three run home run against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to take on the San Diego Padres in a three-game series from Monday, May 18 to Wednesday, May 20.

The Dodgers currently lead the Padres by 0.5 games at the top of the NL West, and are coming off of a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on the road. The Padres, though, had a sweep of their own against the Seattle Mariners in their most recent series.

LA’s offense woke up in their series against the Angels, scoring a season-high 15 runs in the second game of the series as well as a total of 31 runs across the three games.

The Dodgers’ and Padres Recent History

The Dodgers and Padres have created something of a rivalry over the past couple of years, and it became clear the teams didn’t like each other in June 2025.

They played each other seven times in the span of 10 days last season, and tempers flared during the second, four-game series between the two.

Padres All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr. got hit three times in the span of nine days, and the third time caused a benches clearing incident between the teams, resulting in suspensions for Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts and former Padres manager Mike Shildt.

Former Padres closer Robert Suarez also received a suspension after plunking Shohei Ohtani in the following half-inning.

The Padres clearly look forward to their matchup against the Dodgers every year, and haven’t shied away from warning their new players about the blossoming rivalry.

“They told me right away,” Padres closer Mason Miller said upon arriving in San Diego at last season’s trade deadline. “‘Obviously, we don’t like those guys a whole lot.’

“I haven’t really had a rivalry to that extent. The A’s play the Mariners, play the Astros a whole lot, a lot of close games and we want to win those more than others. But not rivalry to the sense of Padres and the Dodgers.”

Jun 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) and Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) engage on the field after benches cleared in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Who is Pitching for the Dodgers in the Series? Who Will they Face?

The Dodgers are rolling out three of their stronger starters despite the rotation’s beleaguered state, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Emmet Sheehan and Shohei Ohtani all set to start against the Frairs.

As for the Padres, Michael King, Griffin Canning and Randy Vasquez will all make starts during the series.

The Dodgers will hope they can carry their offensive form ahead into the coming series, as runs had been at a premium for several weeks before their series against the Angels. They won nine of their 13 games against their divisional opponent last year, and will look to have a similar record this season.

The first game of the three-game set comes Monday at 6:40 p.m. PT.

Are you looking forward to the Dodgers’ series against the Padres?