How Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw turned back the clock with a vintage performance against the Padres.

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers play each other six times in 10 days starting with Friday night, and Fernando Tatis Jr. is pumped up for it.

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers are deadlocked atop the NL West standings — at least until Saturday night’s outcome at Chavez Ravine provides a new leader. After a low-scoring series opener, two effective starters take the mound in Dylan Cease and Blake Snell.

Mookie Betts had a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the third inning, Teoscar Hernández homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Diego 3-2 on Friday night to tie the Padres atop the NL West.

Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada has flourished by discovering the virtues of the elevated fastball, pairing elite velocity with elite characteristics that make it death on those who dare to swing at an elevated heater. But Hernández was ready for it, taking an elevated fastball for a strike before unleashing on the second one he saw.

Third baseman Max Muncy was diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain and landed on the injured list Friday, a major blow to a Dodgers team that finds itself fading in the standings. Muncy was a late scratch from Wednesday's lineup after feeling soreness in his right side during pregame batting practice.

Luis Arraez’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly with the bases loaded brought the Padres to within a run, but Manny Machado popped out on the first pitch by Blake Treinen to end that inning and Ryan O’Hearn flied out to end the game with a the tying run on first base to snap the Padres’ five-game winning streak and the Dodgers’ four-game skid.

The San Diego Padres dropped their opening game of a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2, bringing them level with their rivals in the NL West.

San Diego reshuffles its rotation plans after Michael King’s unexpected injured list move, preparing for a key series against Los Angeles