The NL West race is coming down to the wire, as the Padres have stormed back from 7.5 games down to grab first place ahead of the Dodgers entering Thursday. It almost feels scripted, but both teams are just about knotted up in the standings and are set to face off against each other this weekend in Los Angeles.
Chirping, hit batters, and benches-clearing brawls have been common between the two juggernauts. Most recently in June, when two of the biggest names— Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani — got plunked a combined five times which eventually led to a benches clearing brawl that was started by the two managers in Mike Shildt and Dave Roberts.