Clayton Kershaw is the best and hottest pitcher in baseball with a string of 36 scoreless innings. The Padres are the worst offensive team in the majors. I see this as a kill spot for the Dodgers, who return home frustrated after being swept two games by the Tigers.

Kershaw's numbers border on the obscene with a 0.69 ERA during his last seven starts - all wins - and a 69-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has a 2.47 lifetime ERA against the Padres, who are missing three infield starters.

The Padres have lost four of their last five and are batting .216, which puts them in line to finish with the lowest batting average of any team since 1968. San Diego also has dropped 11 of its last 15 games.

Rookie Odrisamer Despaigne will be making his fourth start. Don't be fooled by his 0.92 ERA. He's been extremely lucky. He had terrible minor league stats and teams now have enough material to study him. The telling thing about Despaigne is he's allowed four walks during each of his last two starts. He's not going to continue to get lucky.