It’s been just one game without superstar Matt Kemp, and the lack of his presence already has been felt by all except Mark Ellis, who continued his fantastic start to the 2012 season. After splitting a two-game series with the Diamondbacks at home, the Dodgers take to the road for a quick trip down to San Diego and Petco Park to oppose the Padres for another two-game set.

The Dodgers will send Chris Capuano to the mound to start things off. He looks to find his sixth win of the season against a Padres team that swiped away his first. For those who don’t remember, Capuano cruised through 4.1 innings, and was able to pick up a second out, but not after allowing a hit and a walk.

Then that’s where things got ugly.

He would walk two batters before getting pulled, and the Padres would wind up bringing each of the four batters home, and driving in one more against Jamey Wright. The contest would go the way of the Dodgers, who would add a game-winning run in the 11th.

Subtract that game and Capuano’s numbers are contending for the Cy Young award early on. His ERA of 1.38 is capped off by a streak of 18.2 innings that was snapped in a 7-3 Dodgers victory in his last outing, where he allowed just one run in 7.0 innings pitched.

His opponent has done quite the opposite.

Clayton Richard‘s first two starts were against the Dodgers, where he went 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA.

Then Richard took a stroll down the road of bad memories. A 6.39 ERA since opposing the Dodgers, and a losing record of 0-5 have accompanied the southpaw, who will welcome a return home, where he posts a 2.24 ERA.

Los Angeles Dodgers (24-12) at San Diego Padres (13-24)
3:35 PM PST, May 15, 2012
Petco Park, San Diego, California
TV: KCAL
Radio: 570 AM (English), 1020 AM (Spanish)
Game-Time Weather: 73 degrees, mostly sunny

Padres Projected Starters:
P: Clayton Richard
C: Nick Hundley
1B: Yonder Alonso
2B: Orlando Hudson
SS: Jason Bartlett
3B: Chase Headley
LF: Jesus Guzman
CF: Cameron Maybin
RF: Will Venable

Key Bench Players: SS Andy Parrino, OF Chris Denorfia

For more information on the Padres check out our pre-series report.

Dodgers Last 10: (7-3): L vs ARI, W vs ARI, W vs COL, W vs COL, W vs COL, W vs SF, L vs SF, W vs SF, L @ CHC, W @ CHC.
Padres Last 10: (4-6): W @ WAS, L @ WAS, L @ PHI, W @ PHI, L @ PHI, L vs COL, W vs COL, W vs COL, L vs MIA, L vs MIA.

Fun Facts:

• The Dodgers lead the overall series against the Padres by a margin of 384-348, including a 6-1 record against San Diego this season, having lost just one of four games at Petco Park.
• Since beginning the season 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers, Clayton Richard has gone 0-5 with a 6.39 ERA. He’ll be happy not to see Matt Kemp or Juan Uribe, who both have homered twice off of him. The two combine for 17 of the team’s 30 hits, decreasing the batting average from .233 to .159.
• While owning the NL’s worst record at 13-24, the Padres own two victories against Roy Halladay of the Phillies, and one over Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals.

Keys to a Dodger Victory:

- Get the Youngsters Involved
In yesterday’s defeat against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers pounded out 10 hits, but received just one from the tandem of – Scott Van Slyke, Jerry Sands and Justin Sellers. It’s still unknown whether the offense is going to be this bad, or if D’Back starter Wade Miley just pitched that good. We must hope for the latter. Today we will continue to learn more.

- Support our Temporary Ace
When your squad has a Cy Young pitcher on the staff, little can go wrong. Well that’s exactly what has happened for the Dodgers except it isn’t who you think it is. Chris Capuano is clearly out-performing Clayton Kershaw this season (to this point), and has to receive as much support as fans can possibly give to him. He will return to San Diego, where he struggled in his first outing as a Dodger in just one inning. If he can shut the Padres down yet again, victory number six wouldn’t be out of the question.

Best-Case Prediction: Dodgers 3, Padres 1
Worst-Case: Padres 5, Dodgers 2