The Padres have already secured a winning homestand against arguably their toughest stretch of the year at Petco Park.

The Atlanta Braves had baseball’s best record when they arrived on Monday and were swept out of San Diego. Then the Padres beat the Dodgers on Friday to secure a winning homestand. Despite a loss in a laugher on Saturday, the Padres are eyeing their first series win against the Dodgers on Sunday and have their ace, Michael King, on the mound for the 1:05 p.m. start on Padres. TV.

The bullpen is in decent shape, too, even in the wake of Saturday’s 15-3 loss.

Ron Marinaccio is likely down after throwing 45 pitches behind bulk reliever Randy Vásquez (3 ⅓ IP, 7 R, 5 ER). Kyle Hart openedthe game with 36 pitches over two innings and is likely TBD after catch play on Saturday morning.

Besides that, only David Morgan (1 IP, 1 ER) was used out of the bullpen as catcher Rodolfo Durán took down the ninth inning.

Mason Miller has yet to pitch in the series and Adrián Morejón, Jason Adam, Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui all had the day off after pitching in Friday’s 7-1 win.

“Yeah, I think we’ll be fine,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Like we saved Yuki. That was a big, big deal, saving Yuki for (Sunday). We’ve got our ace going, Michael King, so you know we feel good about him starting the game, getting us off to a good start. And then you know we got the Yuki, Jason, Adrian, Mason ready to go tomorrow, and we got Wandy, also Morgan’s probably still available. Marinaccio (is) probably down. We’ll check on Hart tomorrow, so use our bullpen as best we can tomorrow, but looking for a good start from Michael.”

The Padres dropped two of three to the Dodgers in May at Petco Park. A win on Sunday would even the season series at three games apiece.

Fernando Tatis Jr. (.714 OPS) is taking a 20-game on-base streak (.321/.363/.488) into Sunday’s game. He’s entrenched atop the order and in right field for the fifth time in the last six games.

Series finale. pic.twitter.com/N95zfzDZzU

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 28, 2026

Left fielder Samad Taylor (.838 OPS) is batting second for the fifth straight game, followed by center fielder Jackson Merrill (.620 OPS) and third baseman Manny Machado (.647 OPS).

Gavin Sheets (.776 OPS) will play first and bat fifth. Miguel Andujar (.706 OPS) will serve as the DH and Sung-Mun Song (.570 OPS) will get the start at second base.

Durán (.588 OPS) will catch and bat ninth.

Here is how the Dodgers will line up for the rubber match:

Today’s #Dodgers lineup at Padres: pic.twitter.com/oBnAkdP9Rz

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 28, 2026

 

Sunday’s pitching matchup

Dodgers RHP Emmet Sheehan (3-5, 5.32 ERA)

He’s allowing a career-high 1.9 homers per nine innings despite amassing 76 strikeouts in 67⅔ innings. The Dodgers have lost each of his last four starts (7.31 ERA). Sheehan allowed four runs in four innings in a no-decision against the Padres in May and has allowed five runs in eight innings in his career against San Diego.

Here’s how Sheehan has fared against current Padres:

Padres RHP Michael King (5-6, 3.33 ERA)

He’s coming off his first win in more than a month, as he struck out five over seven shutout innings in a win over the Braves. King beat the Dodgers with nine strikeouts over seven shutout innings at Petco Park on May 18. King has a 2.15 ERA in 29⅓ career innings in the regular season against the Padres. He’s won three of his four regular-season starts against the Dodgers. King also beat the Dodgers in the 2024 NLDS (5 IP, 5 ER).

Here is how King has fared against current Dodgers: