The Padres have effectively played shorthanded the last few days, with Ramón Laureano sliding over from left to center field and Gavin Sheets backfilling the left-field vacancy. Merrill's unavailability has coincided with shortstop Xander Bogaerts and second baseman Jake Cronenworth both missing a game apiece because of their own ills.

The Padres host the Dodgers on Friday night. Star centerfielder Jackson Merrill will once again not be in the lineup for the Padres.

S an Diego Padres All-Star center fielder Jackson Merrill is out of the Padres' lineup once again for the Friars' series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday. Merrill has been out of the Padres lineup since leaving the Padres game against the Dodgers last Sunday.

The Dodgers are favored (-142 on the moneyline to win) when they visit the Padres (+119). The starting pitchers are Tyler Glasnow (1-1) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Nestor Cortes (1-2) for the San Diego Padres.

Thanks to Thursday’s escape from Denver to salvage a series split at Coors Field, the Dodgers still haven’t lost a series to a National League West team this season in 10 tries. They’ll put that mark to the test this weekend against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

The Rockies are no longer on track to have the worst record in the history of baseball. There is even a chance that they could overthrow the Chicago White-Sox as the second-worst team in baseball. They will definitely hit 100-loss on the season (more than likely), but there is hope looking into the future.

The post Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw reacts to up-and-down series against Rockies appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 9-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday. LA ultimately split the four-game set in Colorado.