San Diego Padres ace Paddack faced off against Clayton Kershaw in a 6-3 Los Angeles Dodgers victory. What went wrong for Paddack? What went right for Kershaw?
Baseball is unpredictable and fickle. One tends to find difficulty in predicting outcomes of singular games, especially in terms of a pitching matchup. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw versus the San Diego Padres and Chris Paddack‘s matchup was among the countless examples.
Tuesday night signaled the start to a series between two divisional opponents that will be in competition for the NL West title all season. The Padres came to Chavez Ravine for a quick two-game series against the Dodgers, before they return to San Diego for a four-game set against the Pirates.
The initial series between the two clubs was in San Diego two weeks ago. That series featured an overall series victory for the Dodgers, however, the Padres claimed the last laugh with a dramatic walk-off grand slam by Hunter Renfroe off of all-star closer Kenley Jansen. Thus, the stage was set for a contentious and interesting series.
The series was set to begin with the respective ace of each club’s staff. Chris Paddack– the up and coming rookie right-hander- was going for the Padres, while the veteran Clayton Kershaw was slated to be on the hill for the Dodgers. Many were excited for the matchup of stellar starters.