Padres @ Dodgers

Who will WIN this matchup?

San Diego Padres (50-58)

@ Los Angeles Dodgers (72-39)

Starting Pitchers:

Lauer (SD): 5-8; 4.52 ERA

May (LAD) 0-0; 0.00 ERA (major league debut)

Last 10 Games Played:

San Diego Padres: 4-6

Los Angeles Dodgers: 6-4

Current odds:

San Diego Padres: (+145)

Los Angeles Dodgers: (-160)

• Top pitching prospect Dustin May is set to make his major league debut Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers continue their four-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres. The 21-year-old joins a Dodgers team that moved a season-high 33 games over .500 with Thursday’s 8-2 victory. Rookie catcher Will Smith belted his first career grand slam and Cody Bellinger went 2-for-3 with his 35th home run and three RBIs for Los Angeles, which improved to 41-14 at home. Smith has homered in back-to-back contests and is 8-for-17 with three homers and 13 RBIs in five games since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, while Bellinger snapped a 12-game homerless streak with a solo blast in the second inning.

• San Diego has faded from the wild card race by losing 17 of its last 25 games but could contend as soon as next year with rookie star Fernando Tatis Jr. at the leadoff spot. The dynamic 20-year-old reached base three times in the series opener and is 9-for-25 with three homers and four RBIs during his six-game hitting streak.

• Lauer has struggled since returning from bereavement leave at the beginning of the month, allowing a total of nine runs on 14 hits over his last three games covering 8 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old Ohio native made the first relief appearance of his career Sunday, throwing 14 pitches in 1 1/3 innings versus the New York Mets. Lauer is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in five career starts versus the Dodgers while limiting Justin Turner to one hit in 10 at-bats.

• May earned the call to the majors after going 6-5 with a 3.38 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings across 20 combined starts in Double A and Triple A this season. The 6-foot-6, 180-pound native Texan was a third-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft. At 21 years, 330 days on Friday, May will be the youngest Dodgers pitcher to start a game since Julio Urias on May 20, 2017.

• Dodgers OF Alex Verdugo was scratched from the starting lineup Thursday because of left knee soreness and is listed as day-to-day.

• The Padres recalled 1B/OF Josh Naylor from Triple-A El Paso.

• Dodgers INF Jedd Gyorko (back, calf, wrist) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Tulsa on Saturday.