Good ol' animosity. It's like an extra player roaming the field at Dodger Stadium as the San Diego Padres open play for a three-game series with their rivals to the north, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The National League West teams have a midweek turn that can go a long way to determining either team's plans for postseason glory. The Dodgers are four games in the black over the Atlanta Braves for the second-best record in the senior circuit, which would come with the benefit of a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The Padres have their sights set on more than just October. San Diego remains on track to secure the top NL wild-card seed, carrying a five-game advantage over the Arizona Diamondbacks with only six games left in the regular season. The D-backs
face a much steeper challenge, sitting four games behind the Phillies for the league's final wild-card berth.
If the standings were to remain, the Padres would open the postseason in a battle with the Chicago Cubs in a best-of-three series. Just one game ahead of the Phillies, San Diego could slide to the No. 6 seed in the playoff bracket, putting them in a wild-card series in Atlanta.
After that, the Dodgers.
One of the sport's greatest rivalries kicks off Tuesday with storylines aplenty.
Dodgers vs Padres previews possible playoff clash
The Dodgers are 14-3 over their past 17 games and are showing flashes of a team that is leaving the dog days of August behind them. Granted, much of the latest heat check has come at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals.
Mookie Betts is again showing life as one of the best hitters in the league. His 1.214 OPS is good for third in all of baseball in September, and he has chipped in six home runs and 20 RBI in that span.
The team is getting healthier, with Roki Sasaki and Andy Pages returning for the Padres series, giving the Dodgers much-needed depth on offense and defense and time to acclimate.
Still, the Dodgers have cause for concern in a playoff collision course with the Padres. For one, San Diego has been just as hot, winning 14 of their past 16 games.
Fernando Tatis' resurgence and 1.083 OPS this month are big reasons San Diego feels hopeful, especially after the offensive doldrums he suffered earlier in the season.
Both teams are hot with the bats lately and are top two in OPS and home runs in September.
There remains the one sizable question in the form of Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers' previous World Series run was boosted by the star's two-way availability, pitching in four games in the 2025 postseason.
This year, the Dodgers will have to live with a percentage of Ohtani.
Dave Roberts gave hope that he might see action after his 15-day stint on the IL (biceps, knee). "There's a good chance next series we'll see him," Roberts said recently, pointing to this week's series with San Diego.
The Dodgers skipper continued, "It's going to be the best physical place he's been in in quite some time."
Clearly hampered by injuries, Ohtani has played in just nine games this month and batted .111 with six strikeouts.
The Padres meet the Dodgers in L.A. in the penultimate series for both teams before October baseball comes calling. These three games will be crucial to showing which team is more ready for prime time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers and Padres bring postseason urgency into showdown
