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While getting another win or two at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and Sunday would help the Padres in the National League wildcard race, it might not be the most important thing on San Diego’s agenda.

Almost equally important to the Padres is being competitive with the Dodgers — a team the Padres likely will have to defeat sooner or later to achieve their goal of winning a National League pennant.

It has been a long time since the Padres were competitive with their neighbors to the north.

Friday night’s win in Los Angeles was just the Padres’ third in 11 games against the Dodgers this season. And the Dodgers are 20-9 against the Padres since the start of the 2021 season and have a 17-3 edge in the past 20 games. Even with Friday night’s 7-1 win, the Padres have been outscored 56-25 by the Dodgers on the season.

But the Padres made something of a statement Friday. Their six-run margin of victory snapped the Dodgers’ major league-record streak of 228 straight regular-season games without losing a game by more than five runs. The Dodgers’ record was 80 games longer than the previous mark of 148 straight games, held by the 1979-80 Pirates.

“This was obviously big,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said after the Padres’ sixth win in seven games on a road trip that ends in Los Angeles on Sunday. “We’ve had a had a little trouble here. “We have to still play these guys eight more times.”

The Padres are 2-6 at Dodger Stadium in 2022.

The Padres will send left-hander Sean Manaea (7-7, 4.90 ERA) against Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias (14-7, 2.32) on Saturday.

Getting past Urias would mark another milestone for the Padres. The 26-year-old defeated the Padres in his only start against them this season, holding the Padres to one run on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts over five innings in a win on April 22.

In 12 career appearances (seven starts) against the Padres, Urias is 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA, giving up 13 runs (12 earned) on 26 hits and 15 walks with 47 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings.

As for his 2022 season, Urias seems to be getting stronger. He is 11-1 over his past 13 starts. His ERA has fallen in eight straight starts and he was 4-1 in August with a 0.90 ERA — giving up three runs on 19 hits and seven walks with 34 strikeouts.

“This year, specifically, he’s been by far more efficient than he’s every been in his career,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently of Urias. “Certainly, the past three months, that’s what I’ve seen. He does such a great job of making pitches when he needs to. I like that the velocity ticks up and has life in the zone when he needs it.”

Manaea, meanwhile, has struggled in two previous starts against the Dodgers this season — giving up 15 runs (14 earned) on 16 hits and four walks with 12 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings for an 0-2 record and a 15.12 ERA. The Dodgers are hitting .390 against him.

The Padres’ record when Manaea starts is 12-12. He was 1-2 — and the Padres were 2-3 — in five August starts with a 7.88 ERA — giving up 22 runs (21 earned) on 35 hits and three walks with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings. He gave up five home runs last month. Manaea suffered the Padres’ only loss on this road trip, allowing six runs on 10 hits over four innings in Kansas City in his most recent start.

–Field Level Media