San Diego (42-34) at La Dodgers (35-40), 10:10 pm EDT
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - A couple of rookie righthanders square
off for the second time in six days Monday when the San Diego
Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers open a three-game series at
Dodger Stadium.
The Padres hand the ball to Tim Stauffer (1-3, 4.44 ERA), who
makes his ninth career start. He has not won since May 11, when
he allowed two runs in six innings against Cincinnati.
The 23-year-old Stauffer faced the Dodgers on Wednesday,
yielding four runs in five innings in the 6-4 loss.
Los Angeles counters with D.J. Houlton (3-1, 5.72), who allowed
three runs in five innings in Wednesday's contest to win for the
third time in four career starts.
The 25-year-old Houlton, who made 13 relief appearances for the
Dodgers prior to joining the rotation, is 2-0 in seven games -
two starts - at home.
The Dodgers are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of
the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Dodgers were outscored,
15-4, in the set and managed a meager .194 (19-for-98) batting
average in the three games.
San Diego took two of three games from Seattle this weekend. In
Sunday's rubber game, Damian Jackson went 4-for-4 with two
homers and Xavier Nady homered for the third straight game in
the 5-4 win.
The Padres have dropped six of nine meetings between the squads
this season.