Dodgers, Padres clash with postseason goals within reach

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will say farewell for now in their final meeting of the regular season Thursday night in L.A., with one team guaranteed to celebrate at the end of the evening.

In the finale of the next-to-last series for each team, the Padres have a magic number of one for clinching a National League wild-card spot, while the Dodgers have a magic number of one to earn a top-two seed in the playoffs and a bye into a division series matchup.

There even remains a chance that both achieve their objectives depending on other results throughout the NL.

As it stands now, the Dodgers (97-61) and Padres (88-70) could collide again in a division-series matchup. The Padres earned a 5-1 victory Wednesday to end the Dodgers' 11-game home winning streak, while the Dodgers won 7-0 on Tuesday.

The Padres have won 14 of their past 16 games.

A pair of right-handers will match up in the final game of the series as San Diego sends Nick Pivetta (3-2, 3.30 ERA) to the mound, while Los Angeles will counter with Tyler Glasnow (5-1, 3.46).

Pivetta will have history on the line. The Padres have never reached the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. In three starts since a five-month stint on the injured list because of a right elbow flexor strain, Pivetta is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA.

In eight career appearances against the Dodgers (seven starts), he is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA.

Pivetta has yet to go more than five innings since his return, but he will have additional bullpen support with the return of right-hander Jason Adam, who has been out since June with a shoulder injury.

"What this team's doing is really special," Adam said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I just want to fill my role, however that looks, and help them win ballgames. We've seen that this team's good with or without me. I just want to do my part to contribute."

The Dodgers saw Shohei Ohtani return from a biceps injury Wednesday, and he reached base in his first two at-bats on a single and a walk. But he struck out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning against right-hander David Morgan.

"He looked good," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani. "At-bat quality was good. There wasn't any chase. I thought he hit the ball hard in his first at-bat, just missed a homer (in the seventh inning), took a walk. It was good. It's been a while since he's played in a game, but it felt like he wasn't sped up at all."

Ohtani hit out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup against left-hander Robbie Ray, while Mookie Betts remained the leadoff hitter for the fifth consecutive game. Ohtani is expected to play again Thursday and might return to the leadoff spot against Pivetta.

Glasnow is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts since returning from a back injury. In his most recent outing Friday against the San Francisco Giants, he had a season-high 10 strikeouts in earning an 8-2 win.

In eight career appearances against San Diego (five starts), Glasnow is 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA.