Game 1 of the three-game series at Petco Park just concluded, and it saw the San Diego Padres tie the Dodgers for the NL West lead.

The Padres started their series against the Dodgers on Friday with a division lead on the line. With the 2-1 win, the Padres improved to 73-56 while sliding the Dodgers to an identical record.

Veteran pitchers Blake Snell and Yu Darvish’s presence on the mound resulted in a pitching duel.

The first run of the game didn’t come until the Dodgers slugger Alex Freeland hit his first career home run off the Japanese ace. Dodgers catcher Will Smith ended the bottom half of the inning with a heads-up play to find Ramon Laureano wandering between second and third base.

The Padres string some hits and walks in the fourth inning, resulting in third baseman Manny Machado tying the ballgame 1-1 with an RBI single off Snell.

The same inning saw Xander Bogaerts coming up with a go-ahead sac fly as the Padres took a pivotal 2-1 lead.

From there onwards, pitchers from both sides dominated the game.

While there were multiple scoring opportunities for both teams in subsequent innings, none proved to be enough. Darvish went strong for six frames for one run while Snell went deep, throwing seven innings for two runs.

Things got interesting in the end with Padres closer Robert Suarez taking on the Dodgers’ fearsome trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

The closer was almost taken deep by Ohtani, but his flyball died at the warning track. Betts reached third on Freeman’s single, but he couldn’t come around to score as Suarez earned the save after striking out Teoscar Hernandez on an inside pitch to end the ball game.

Dodgers vs Padres: Game 2 details

The division lead will be at stake when the Dodgers and the Padres meet again Saturday for the second game of the series.

The Dodgers will likely send right-hander Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.12 ERA) on the mound while the Padres will have Nestor Cortes (1-2, 5.87) taking the ball. While the pitching matchup favors the Dodgers, anything can happen when this two time take the field.