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Tuesday afternoon the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres will continue their three-game series at Petco Park. The Padres won Monday's opener (SD 10, LAA 3), though of greater concern for the Angels is Mike Trout. He exited Monday's game with a wrist injury after taking a swing in the seventh inning.

The Angels will send Shohei Ohtani to the mound Tuesday, in a game that is rather important for both clubs. Los Angeles has lost four of its last five and is three games back of a wild-card spot. The Padres, even with Monday's win, have lost 10 of their last 14. They are seven games back of a wild-card spot.

Padres' All-Star Juan Soto was asked about facing Ohtani, something he has yet to do in his career, prior to Monday's game. His response, via NBC Sports San Diego:

"He's impressive, but he's going to have trouble to face this lineup tomorrow, definitely. I'm coming here to play baseball. We all know he's an impressive player, but whenever he steps on the mound I won't be scared to shuffle his ass."

Soto said it with a laugh and, honestly, would you expect him to say anything else? Soto has been shuffling pitchers -- All-Stars and Cy Young winners and journeymen alike -- since the day he arrived in the big leagues as a 19-year-old. He's backed it up too. Soto's one of the best hitters in the world and you have to be confident in yourself to be that good.

As noted, Soto has yet to face Ohtani as a pitcher. In fact, Ohtani has only faced five current Padres: Xander Bogaerts, Matt Carpenter, Nelson Cruz, Rougned Odor, and Gary Sánchez. They are a combined 2 for 13 (.154) with one home run (Carpenter) and five strikeouts against him.

Soto is hitting .277/.426/.500 with 15 home runs and an MLB-leading 77 walks this year. Ohtani is hitting .303/.390/.664 with an MLB-leading 31 home runs, and he has 3.02 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings.