Monday night at Petco Park will bring a rematch of the sport's defending champions and the challenger that came closest to ousting them.

The Padres scored their first six runs against Dustin May, who finished five innings. He took six pitches to get through the fourth and stranded a runner at second in the fifth. The Padres went down in order against Anthony Banda in the next two innings.

Manager Dave Roberts called the 2024 NLDS "the real World Series", after the Dodgers went on to beat both the Mets and the Yankees pretty handily in the next two series. The 2025 rematch begins today.

The top of the Padres' lineup is a formidable gauntlet, but rookie right-hander Ben Casparius handled it just fine. He opened the Dodgers' 5-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon by sending the first three batters down in order,

Gavin Sheets, Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth hit successive one-out singles, but that is not what put the Padres up. Instead, there were two outs after the third of those singles, as Sheets was tagged out at home after being waved home from second on Bogaerts’ hit to center field.

The Dodgers will use a bullpen game against Dylan Cease at Petco Park in San Diego, just like the 2024 NLDS Game 4.

The Padres need a bat. This trade season, that’s the bare minimum. They could use more starting-pitching depth. They could use another reliever. They could use a catcher. But they need a bat. (At least one.

The San Diego Padres have unfinished business in 2025. After making a shocking first-round exit in the playoffs last season, the Friars hope a series win over t