The Dodgers look to make franchise history on Friday night as they open a three-game weekend series against the Padres at Dodger Stadium. With one more win the Dodgers can set a record for wins in a month since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.
The Dodgers were 19-6 (.760) in July, the third-best monthly winning percentage by the team in Los Angeles. The team has followed that up with a 21-6 (.778) August so far, with two games remaining. It matches the highest win total in any month since the team moved to Los Angeles. This is the eighth 21-win month by an L.A. Dodgers team, and the first since August 2006, when the team was 21-7.
No Dodgers team has won more than 21 games in any month since the 1953 Brooklyn team went 25-6 in August. That followed a 23-8 July, giving them a 48-14 record over two months.
The 2013 Dodgers are 48-13 in their last 61 games, a stretch that began with a win in San Diego against the Padres on June 22.
But while the Dodgers have been hot as a team in August, they aren't the only ones on fire. Padres outfielder Will Venable began his month with a 15-game hitting streak and after a single 0-for-4 contest he started a new hitting streak, now at eight games. For the month Venable is hitting .390/.419/.750 with eight home runs, six doubles and three triples in 24 games.
Venable is even hitting lefties this season, to the tune of .295/.321/.590 in 81 plate appearances.
Left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu gets the start on the mound, looking to snap a two-start losing streak. Even with those two losses Ryu is 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA in August, with 28 strikeouts and just three walks. This is his first start against the Padres.
Former Dodgers pitcher Eric Stults has faced his old team three times this season, and is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA. Stults won at Dodger Stadium on April 15, when he helped his own cause with a three-run home run.
The Padres were 38-36 after their win over the Dodgers at Petco Park on June 21, seven games ahead of the Dodgers, but San Diego has since gone 22-37.
Game info
Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket