Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Padres have been scuffling of late and the Dodgers added to more of their pain, as they took the series opener 4-2 in a game that felt closer than it should’ve been all night. Thankfully, even after Dustin May‘s start got ruined, a pair of late homers saved the day.
The Dodgers have now won three of the four games against the Padres this season, 11 of their last 13 overall, and three in a row.
Recap late due to the Lakers going to the Western Conference Finals.
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On one hand, the Dodgers lineup didn’t let Blake Snell live in peace, as he had just a single 1-2-3 inning and was constantly in trouble. On the other hand, for all his struggles at times, he limited the damage and kept the Padres right in the thick of the game.
After getting just a walk in the 1st, the Dodgers had a great chance in the 2nd after a Chris Taylor lead-off double. Max Muncy followed by grounding out and advancing him to third, but a strikeout by Miguel Vargas was followed by a Miguel Rojas groundout to strand CT3.
The 3rd is when they finally managed to cash in, as back-to-back walks from Trayce Thompson and Mookie Betts set the table, and Freddie Freeman doubled to make it 2-0. Will Smith singled to follow and corner the runners, seemingly setting up a big inning, but a J.D. Martinez strikeout and a Taylor double play wasted another threat.
Snell seemed to mostly settle in after that, as he got through the 4th with just an error, worked around a walk and a single that cornered the runners in the 5th, and got his 1-2-3 frame in the 6th to end his day.
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While the Dodgers missed chances, fortunately Dustin May was cruising, pounding the zone with all his pitches and keeping his side in the lead. May faced the minimum through four innings and threw just 42 pitches as well, getting three perfect to start and erasing a single in the 4th with a double play.
He encountered trouble for the first time in the 5th due to a lead-off double that was advanced to third on a groundout. May looked to have given up his first run after a medium-deep fly ball was lifted to Taylor in left, but the Padres didn’t test his arm, surely traumatized by past attempts at doing so. May got the next batter to confirm that CT3 indeed saved a run.
Things continued to look fine in the 6th, as he allowed a two-out single but got through things in just 11 pitches and stood at 66 pitches total.
The 7th … well, it went about as badly as it could after May got two quick outs to start. A double was followed by a steal and a walk to corner the runners, and Ha-Seong Kim made one of their few chances count when he yanked a double down the line in left to tie the game at 2-2. All of that came with two down, remember.
May was brilliant until the sequencing at the end: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 90 Pitches.
Caleb Ferguson entered for him out of the pen and finished off the 7th with a strikeout on three pitches.
Fortunately, the Dodgers came right back against the Padres pen, as Mookie (8th) and Freddie (7th) went back-to-back to restore the lead to 4-2.
For the Dodgers, Ferguson returned and faced some trouble in the 8th after he gave up a pair of singles to start the inning that cornered the runners. However, he bounced back with a strikeout, which was key because Evan Phillips then relieved him and induced a double play to escape with no damage.
Phillips continued in the 9th and did give up a double, but also struck out two to close the game. He’s back in elite form now.
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Tony Gonsolin is invested.
Kid digging his way to freedom.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 24-15 |
| Diamondbacks | 21-18 (3 GB) |
| Padres | 19-20 (5 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The series continues tomorrow on national television with the 1:15 PM HT/4:15 PM PT/7:15 PM ET game on FOX. It’ll be a marquee matchup as Julio Urias (3.77 ERA/4.19 FIP/4.57 DRA) faces Joe Musgrove (6.75/6.28/4.61).
