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

The San Diego Padres have made a change to the pitching plan for the third game of their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Right-hander Griffin Canning was originally expected to start this game for the Padres, but now the team will be using an opener. Left-hander Wandy Peralta will start the contest against the Dodgers.

LHP Wandy Peralta will start tonight’s game vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 4, 2026

The Padres have dropped the first two games of the series to Los Angeles. They fell under .500 for the first time since April 8.

Pitching Matchup for Padres vs Dodgers on Saturday

Peralta will take the mound for the Padres in this game, with the left-hander looking to set the tone early for the team. On the year, Peralta has an ERA of 2.38 over 38 appearances (three starts).

The last time Peralta opened a game was on June 23 against the Atlanta Braves, with the veteran going one inning and striking out two batters. The Padres have elected to use openers of late, hoping to give the starters more of a chance to pitch deeper into games.

Canning is expected to come in after Peralta, and he will be looking for some better results. The right-hander has struggled heavily this season, and his spot in the Padres' rotation seems to be in jeopardy.

On the year, Canning has made 11 appearances (nine starts), posting an ERA of 7.09. If Canning can put together a strong outing against the Dodgers' powerful lineup, it could go a long way in helping him get some grace from the coaching staff.

Going against the Padres in this game will be Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has put together another strong season and will look to dominate the Padres again.

In his last outing, the right-hander faced off against San Diego, allowing two runs over six innings. For the season, Yamamoto owns an ERA of 2.67 over 97.2 innings of work.

Padres Lineup vs Dodgers

This will be updated when the Padres announce a lineup.

How to Watch Padres vs Dodgers on Saturday

First pitch for the San Diego Padres vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, July 4, is 7:10 p.m. PT/10:10 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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