Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers saw their six-game winning streak come to a sudden halt to start their weekend series against the Padres, dropping a 5-2 contest that quite frankly they were lucky was that close.
======
Old but very temporary friend Yu Darvish was on the mound for the Padres, and the Dodgers looked to get at him early. Mookie Betts led the game off with a single and Freddie Freeman followed with a double, however the Dodgers were only able to plate a single run from that on a Max Muncy groundout for an early 1-0 lead.
They had another scoring chance in the 2nd after a Miguel Vargas triple, but he got doubled up on a David Peralta lineout.
That was it for a while against Darvish, as after the Vargas triple he set down 13 in a row into the 7th inning.
——
Clayton Kershaw started for the Dodgers, and he had as many walks today as he did in the rest of his starts this year combined, just to give you an idea of his control issues tonight.
Anyway, he still managed to get through the first two innings unscathed, working around a single and a walk in the 1st and a couple more singles in the 2nd. That ended suddenly in the 3rd after a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer started things and tied the game at 1-1.
In the 4th he got some help working around a walk from Will Smith, who threw out a runner to let Kershaw face the minimum.
Things unraveled for him in the 5th as the game came undone in a hurry. A walk to start the inning was followed by another Tatis homer for a 3-1 lead.
A pair of singles followed to corner the runners and put Kershaw in more trouble, but he got a pair of strikeouts to put him on the verge of escape. However, a walk loaded the bases and a diving play by Miguel Rojas was required to keep Ha-Seong Kim‘s single to the infield variety and limit the damage to a run and a 4-1 score.
That was the end of the road for Kershaw in his worst start of the year: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 7 K, 94 Pitches.
Phil Bickford entered in relief and helped him out, getting a ground out to escape the jam. He also followed with a 1-2-3 frame in the 6th.
——
Going back to the other side with Darvish, who was coming off five scoreless innings, but was greeted in the 7th with a Smith single that was eventually followed by a Jason Heyward double that ended up plating a run thanks to a Tatis error in right. That made things 4-2 and put Heyward on third with one out, a chance to really get back into the game.
However, James Outman struck out (a regular thing in these situations), which was the end of Darvish’s night, and Vargas grounded out against Nick Martinez to end the mini-rally. Martinez also continued in the 8th with a clean frame to keep the Dodgers down.
It was an adventure for the Dodgers to not allow the scoreline to balloon.
Shelby Miller got the 7th and continued his high-wire act, allowing three walks (one intentional) and a stolen base, though two of those walks easily could’ve been strikeouts. Regardless, he got through the inning unscathed.
Wander Suero then made his Dodger debut in the 8th and couldn’t throw strikes. He walked the bases loaded (with a steal between) and then allowed a grounder up the middle that was stopped by Rojas for an out, but a run scored to make it 5-2. Could’ve been a lot worse, honestly.
Didn’t matter a ton anyway, as Josh Hader entered in the 9th for the Padres, and he issued a walk but otherwise was untroubled to close things out.
======
| NL West | Record |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 19-14 |
| Diamondbacks | 18-14 (0.5 GB) |
| Padres | 18-15 (1 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The series continues tomorrow a bit earlier at 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET with Dustin May facing Blake Snell.
