The Dodgers opened their first series against the San Diego Padres on Monday night at Petco Park, starting a three-game affair between the top two teams in the National League West. Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the ball for Los Angeles, while right-hander Michael King started for San Diego.
The matchup came after more than a quarter of the season had already passed, which made the delay in meeting all the more striking for two clubs that entered the series at the top of the division. It was also the first of four series the teams will play this season, a run that could shape the race well beyond this week in San Diego.
Yamamoto entered the start coming off the first MLB game in which he allowed three home runs, a line that put a little more weight on his outing even before the first pitch. The Dodgers had spent Sunday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim against the Angels, then headed south for the opener before returning home for a three-game stretch against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
That schedule leaves little breathing room, but it also shows how quickly the season can turn from one division test to another. The Padres and Dodgers were separated by the standings going into Monday only by the kind of margin that makes every game between them matter, and this one arrived with the feel of an early marker in a year when both teams have already spent months at the top of the West.
For Los Angeles, the night in San Diego was about more than starting a series. It was the first direct look at a rival it had not yet seen, the first chance to measure itself against another contender that had also been waiting for this matchup. However the opener played out, the schedule already guaranteed more of it, with three more series between the clubs still ahead before the season ends.
