Padres 6, Dodgers 5: Bleh

After winning five games in a row, a run that ended with the clinch of the NL West, the Dodgers have now lost two games on the road to the Padres. Of course they did.

6-5 was the score of today’s game, as neither team scored after the fourth.

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If Jose De Leon was auditioning for his playoff roster spot, then he failed to get the part. JDL labored through 69 pitches in just 2.1 innings, giving up five runs, though only three were earned. While the four hits were important, more concerning were the three walks and only one strikeout.

During the first inning, De Leon was throwing 90-91 mph and was victimized by a Corey Seager error that cost two runs in a three-run first. However, from then on he was in his more normal range of 92-94 mph. Unfortunately, that didn’t necessarily make him a ton more effective, and he ended up making history when Hunter Renfroe (who is the new Paul Goldschmidt) hit the first homer ever on top of the building in left.

Good gracious, what a shot.

Josh Ravin was then brought on to get out of the third, and he did so on six pitches, striking out one batter.

The offense actually got things started early today, with both Chase Utley and Adrian Gonzalez hitting solo homers in the first inning.

A-Gon, of course, was removed last night with a sinus infection and is still feeling under the weather. So what better time for Joc Pederson to mock the hell out of him for it.

But hey, it was working, and A-Gon again came through for the Dodgers in the third, driving in Seager with a double to the right-center field gap. And whatever Joc got from touching A-Gon after making fun of him was contagious, because he proceeded to launch a homer in the fourth with Andrew Toles on base.

I guess Joc’s thing is that bat sling now.

On the mound, Ross Stripling came out of the bullpen to do the hard work again, giving the Dodgers 43 pitches and three innings, striking out four batters and surrendering just two hits. Technically he did give up an earned run, but really it was a ball Seager should’ve handled at short and thrown the runner out at home, and it was a day to forget for Corey since that ended up being the winning run.

Jesse Chavez was the next reliever to get the ball, as he took over for Stripling in the seventh. Chavez pitched a scoreless frame, allowing a hit but striking out a batter. Luis Avilan did the same in the eighth, with his strikeout coming against the mighty Renfroe.

But the offense didn’t score after the fourth inning, which certainly wasn’t helped by an 0-for-3 performance with RISP. But more than that, it was just a lack of chances today.

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The loss drops the Dodgers to 90-68 on the year and 37-40 on the road. The Nationals lost in a rain-shortened game today, so their lead in home-field advantage in the NLDS remains at 2 games.

The Dodgers and Padres complete the series tomorrow at 3:10 PM HST/6:10 PM PST/9:10 PM EST on SportsNet LA. The matchup will be Julio Urias (3.53 ERA/3.26 FIP/4.18 DRA), auditioning for the fourth starter role in the playoffs, against fellow lefty Christian Friedrich (4.66 ERA/4.26 FIP/5.25 DRA).