Following their recent 3-1 series win, the Boston Red Sox have now won eight of ten games against the New York Yankees this season. The Red Sox have been dominant in the rivalry since 2023, holding a 23-13 record against their rivals. This stands in stark contrast to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have a nearly even record of 13-15 against the Philadelphia Phillies over the last five years. Does this level of competition seem close?

Due to this stark contrast and competitive mindset, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal said two days ago, “I want to talk about which is the better one right now. Frankly? I don’t even see it as close. Give me Dodgers-Padres right now over Yankees-Red Sox.”

Meanwhile, in Southern California, every game between the Dodgers and the Padres feels like a playoff preview. Because it probably is, as Padres are currently just one game behind the Dodgers, who sit atop the NL West. However, just this past weekend, the latter lost their last series of the season with the Padres 1-2 after their Colorado collapse.

Following this, Rosenthal dug deeper into the rivalry, saying, “Well, a lot of Yankees and Red Sox fans took exception with me saying Padres-Dodgers was better…But regardless, I would say right now… it matters more to the Padres,” when a reporter on the Foul Territory podcast asked him which side cares more about winning.

Rosenthal further revealed: “And even though they knocked out the Dodgers in ’22, they have not won the World Series…they still want to kind of knock off the Dodgers, slay the dragon as I always say… there is a hunter versus a hunted kind of situation going on here, and the Padres are the hunter.”

And we can’t argue, right? Because after the 2022 NLDS, every time the Padres step onto the diamond, they don’t just come to win the division title; rather they wish to win the World Series, but the constant roadblock in their path is the Dodgers.

How did the rivalry become real?

This ‘hunter-hunted’ dynamic was forged over 50 years of lopsided history. The Dodgers were the undisputed kings from 1969 to 2019 and lead the all-time series against Padres by over 100 games, 539–436. The Dodgers once won 16 straight games against the Padres.

Then, everything changed around 2020 when the aggressive Padres front office, led by A. J. Preller, went all-in to acquire stars like Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, and Blake Snell. Their goal was to hunt down and slay the dragon.

Though the Dodgers swept them in the 2020 NLDS, it was no longer a one-sided affair after that. Then the ultimate triumph came in the 2022 NLDS when the 89-win Padres hunted down the 111-win Dodgers in a 3-1 series first time on the big stage.

They ultimately failed to grab the World Series in 2022, and to repeat that victory in the 2024 NLDS against the Dodgers, who took the series 3-2. But when the Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, said, “From my perspective, that was the World Series,” after winning, he meant it. And that fire is still burning, and we have seen it in the recent seven-game stretch in June.

That series witnessed multiple bench-clearing moments, and managers Dave Roberts and Mike Shildt physically bumped each other. And like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani were hit by pitches intentionally or unintentionally. Maybe that’s why Rosenthal has said, “You see it in the Padres. They’re out to attack..slay the dragon… They’re ready to take the next step.”