Los Angeles Dodgers

Balls flying out of Dodger Stadium and Petco Park this year

Published Apr. 26, 2015 8:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

Last Sunday, Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis said, “I haven't seen the ball fly at Dodger Stadium like it is this year.”

After this Saturday’s game, in which the Dodgers and the Padres combined for seven home runs, Padre outfielder Justin Upton said, “I've never seen the ball fly out of Petco like I did tonight.”

The two ballparks are typically thought of as pitchers’ parks with the marine layer creeping into the Southern California ballparks during night games and stifling potential home run balls into fly ball outs. The Padres did move in the fences this year, however, perhaps it’s not the ballparks, but the teams which are making the difference this year.

Going into Sunday’s game, the teams boasted the highest scoring offenses in the National League -- the Padres averaging 4.89 runs per game and the Dodgers 4.88. They also led the league in home runs -- the Dodgers with 25 and the Padres tied for second at 19.

Maybe Saturday’s 11-8 slugfest was an aberration as it was bookended by the more typical low-scoring affairs at Petco Park of 3-0 on Friday and 3-1 on Sunday. Yet the scoring on Sunday featured three home runs, so perhaps fans should expect to see more home runs than usual this summer in San Diego and Los Angeles.

(h/t MLB.com)