Monday night at Petco Park will bring a rematch of the sport's defending champions and the challenger that came closest to ousting them.

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Dodgers, on a three-game home winning streak, host the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles is 44-29 overall and 26-12 in home games. The Dodgers have a 28-8 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The Dodgers won series against the Padres and Giants last week, their closest pursuers in the National League West, thanks to strong performances by Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, and others. Plus, the pitching usage strategy sure felt a lot like last October’s run to the World Series.

The Padres leveled the series last night with an 11-1 win. Dyland Cease was dominant on the mound yesterday. He pitched 7.0 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts on just three hits. Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.

Shohei Ohtani allowed an early run in his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but quickly made up for it with two clutch hits and a pair of RBIs in a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.