Padres Manager Wishes They Played Dodgers Every Night

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered an arduous 10-game stretch with the division rival San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. While the Dodgers maintained the lead in the National League West, the race was extremely close.

The Dodgers have won seven of nine games against the Padres and Giants. L.A.'s 4-3 walk-off win over the Padres Wednesday night gave the Dodgers a 4.5 game lead over San Francisco and a six game lead on the Padres.

While the Dodgers have won five of six games against the Padres in June, their skipper expressed a desire to compete against the defending champions every night because of the high emotions produced by the rivalry.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Look, the best part about a rivalry is people are gonna bring their best shot. Good news is both teams were bringing it every night. We love it.

“We can’t do it, but I wish we played them every night. It’s just a hard-fought contest.”

The Dodgers haven't used any of their staple starters in the four-game set against the Padres; however Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start in the series finale. Emmet Sheehan, Jack Dreyer, and Shohei Ohtani started the first three games.

Ohtani pitched just one inning as he is still building back up. Sheehan made his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Dreyer's start was a bullpen game.

While the Dodgers have a depleted pitching staff, the team has won five consecutive games.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a different message about the rivalry matchup, which concludes Thursday.

"Our guys rose to the occasion," Roberts said. "I want to put those guys away."