Padres' Manny Machado on Dodgers: 'We've Got to Beat This Team'

Matt Levine | Aug 1, 2024

The San Diego Padres are fresh off a two-game series sweep of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, giving them the series win over Los Angeles for the first time since 2010. San Diego lowered their deficit in the National League West to just 4.5 games with the victories and they have been on a roll of late.

The Padres have won nine of 10 games overall and sit with a record of 59-51 on the season. If the year ended right now, they would be the second wild-card team in the NL and the goal of reaching the playoffs would be complete. But the team doesn't want to settle on just getting to the postseason.

But the Padres know that to do anything, the Dodgers stand in their way. While the Padres can celebrate the wins over the Dodgers, they know that it's still a long way to go for the rest of the season.

Padres star third baseman Manny Machado understands this and has embraced the idea of facing Los Angeles throughout his time with San Diego.

“We’ve got to beat this team,” Machado said. “We’ve got to go through them. … But as a group, we’re just worrying about Friday night. Enjoy this off-day tomorrow, then worry about Friday night.”

Machado has been a catalyst for the Padres this season, hitting .266 with 16 home runs and 58 runs batted in. He came up massive for the Padres in the win over Los Angeles on Tuesday, hitting two home runs.

San Diego opens a three-game series up at Petco Park against the Colorado Rockies starting Friday. Following those games, the Padres will head out onto the road for six games to face the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins.

Padres manager Mike Shildt spoke about taking care of business following the win over the Dodgers on Wednesday.

“Our goals haven’t changed at any point during the season,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s been to win the division. We know it’s a tall order and a competitive division, so we’re just going about playing and taking care of our business.”

For the Padres to keep climbing in the division and standings, the team can't get ahead of themselves. There is still work to do and it'll take an entire team effort to reach the goals that they set earlier in the season.

The Padres have a strong team in place and they seem to be hitting all on cylinders as we head into the stretch run of the regular season.