Padres Announce Sudden Change to Starting Pitcher for Saturday’s Game vs Dodgers

The San Diego Padres have announced a last-minute change for the second game of their three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Padres took the first game of the series by a score of 7-1, with right-hander Walker Buehler shutting down the Dodgers' offense. San Diego scored seven unanswered runs after Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead early in the game.

Left-hander Kyle Hart will now start the game for the Padres against Los Angeles. Hart is expected to open for right-hander Randy Vásquez, who was originally scheduled to start this contest.

LHP Kyle Hart will start tonight’s game vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 27, 2026

Pitching Matchup for Padres vs Dodgers on Saturday

Hart will take the mound for his first start of the season. The left-hander has pitched in 17 games for San Diego, posting an ERA of 4.13.

His longest outing of the season was 2.1 innings, with the lefty typically throwing 1-2 innings per outing. Against Los Angeles, he is expected to open the game before the team replaces him with Vásquez.

Vásquez has seen his hot start to the year fizzle out a little in recent starts, with him now holding an ERA of 4.17. At one point, Vásquez was the best pitcher on the Padres staff, with the team thinking he could be in line for a breakout year.

The right-hander will be looking to bounce back from his previous outing against the Texas Rangers, where he allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits over 3.1 innings. Vásquez has allowed at least two runs in each of his last six starts overall.

Having the right-hander come in after an opener could give him a stronger chance to last longer in the game.

Going for the Dodgers will be ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has put together a nice year for Los Angeles. In 14 starts, Yamamoto has registered an ERA of 2.65 over 91.2 innings.

Padres Lineup vs Dodgers

Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Samad Taylor, LF
Jackson Merrill, CF
Manny Machado, 3B
Gavin Sheets, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Miguel Andujar, DH
Will Wagner, 2B
Freddy Fermin, C

How to Watch Padres vs Dodgers on Saturday

First pitch for San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, June 27, is 5:40 p.m. PT/8:40 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV and in the MLB app.

The Padres announced that games will also be available via cable on the following channels:

Cox (Channel 83)
DirecTV (Channel 694-3)
AT&T Uverse (Channel 781 or 1781)
Spectrum (Channel 305 or 443)

Games will be broadcast on the radio on 97.3 The Fan (in English) and XEMO 860 (in Spanish).

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