Jim Cella
SAN DIEGO—Three solo home runs, and a 2-run sixth inning, spelled doom for the Dodgers in their series opener at San Diego. The Padres hit 1-run shots in the first, fourth and fifth and then broke open a 3-3 tie game with a pair of runs in the sixth to pull out the 5-3 decision. Los Angeles staged a brief ninth-innings rally when Cody Bellinger led off with a homer but the rally would end there as the Dodgers lost for only the second time in the last seven games. LA and San Diego are both 7-4 on the year and trail Colorado by a game in the NL West.
GAME RECAP: The Dodgers led 1-0 in the first and then 3-2 in the fifth but those leads were erased by home runs in the bottom half of each inning. Joc Pederson, batting in the No.1 spot in the order for the first time this season, jumped on the very first pitch of the game and sent it 409 feet over the left-center field fence. San Diego would return the solo shot in the bottom of the first when Trent Grisham hit the first of three long balls in the game against Dodgers’ starter Walker Buehler. The Padres took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a Will Myers homer to right but then Los Angeles quickly countered with a 2-run fifth. Both runs scored on a Will Smith 1-out double that split the gap in right center. San Diego answered in the bottom of the frame for the second time on the night when Fernando Tatis Jr.’s back spin HR just cleared the fence in right field.
San Diego won the game in the bottom of the sixth off of LA reliever Brusdar Graterol. Former Dodger Manny Machado started the inning with a single up the middle. He advanced to second when Justin Turner went deep to his right to throw out Tommy Pham on a ground out. Machado scored on the next at-bat when Jake Cronenworth came through with a single on a 1-2 count. Caleb Ferguson replaced Graterol on the bump and gave up a single to Abraham Almontewhich which advanced Cronenworth to third . Light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges then came up with his first hit of the season to in the eventual game-winning run.
Bellinger gave the Dodger faithful a glimpse of ninth-inning dramatics when he sent a no-doubt shot 409 feet into the right field bleachers. The comeback would end abruptly as Padres’ closer Kirby Yates fanned the trio of AJ Pollock, Corey Seager and Chris Taylor to end the game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SERIES STUFF: The loss ended a 5-game win streak for the Dodgers over the Padres dating back to last season. All five wins came at Dodger Stadium South. LA went 13-6 against the Padres in 2019 and had a 7-2 record in San Diego. The Dodgers are now 477-400 all-time against the Padres and 82-65 at Dodger Stadium South.
PIVOTAL PLAY: The biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the fifth. The Dodgers had just taken a 3-2 lead in the top half of the frame and then Buehler struck out Hedges and Jackson Profar to start the inning. It looked like LA would finally be able to hold a lead for a full inning but Tatis Jr. lifted the first pitch of his at-bat over the fenced to take back the momentum – and tie the game at 3-3.
LACK OF CONTROL: Buehler struggled to get ahead in the count during his 5-inning, 79-pitch outing. He couldn’t consistently find the plate with his breaking balls which cost him with long balls. All three of the solo home runs by the Padres came on off-speed pitches. The good news for Buehler was that the only hits he allowed were the home runs. The bad news is that he also walked three in the outing. Buehler struck out three and now has a 5.19 ERA in his two starts.
3-WALK HISTORY: Buehler made 17 starts last season before issuing three walks in a game. He gave up three free passes at Philadelphia on his 18th start on July 16. Buehler finished 2019 by giving up at least three walks in five of his last 10 starts.
CRASH COURSE: The two most exciting defensive plays of the game came in the bottom of the seventh – and both were courtesy of Pederson’s arm in right field. After Tatis Jr. walked to start the inning, Grisham singled through the right side of the infield which allowed Tatis Jr. to go to third base. The seeing-eye single wasn’t hit hard and forced Pederson to charge to his left to field the ball. Grisham decided to take a chance and go for second base but Pederson would have none of it and threw a laser to Muncy for the tag at second. Machado followed with a line drive out to Pederson, who quickly returned the ball to the infield which caught Tatis Jr. in a run down between third and home. The run down ended with Tatis Jr. colliding into Will Smith who caught the ball several seconds before Tatis Jr. arrived at the plate. Both players crashed to the deck but neither was hurt and neither team took offense at the play.
IN THE ZONE: Seager was the only Dodger with more than one hit in the opener as the Padres outhit LA 9-6 for the game. Seager, who leads MLB in exit velocity of balls put in play, had a single to center in the second and then had a double which missed a home run by two feet in the run-scoring fifth. Seager has now had three straight 2-hit games and jumped into the team lead in hitting with a .375 average. Seager has hit safely in six straight games, has a hit in nine of the 10 games he has played and has been on base in all 10 games. He is hitting a red-hot .416 (10-for-14) during his 6-game hitting streak. Seager has 15 hits on the year which is second in the NL and third in MLB.
JOC POP LIKES LEADOFF: Pederson has thrived in the No.1 spot in the batting order. He now has 124 career home runs and 69 have come when he bats first in the lineup. Pederson also has 21 career leadoff homers which are seven shy of the club record held by Davey Lopes (28).
GOODBYE JULY, HELLO AUGUST: Smith came through with a huge, 1-out double in the fifth that gave the Dodgers a brief 3-2 lead. He has a hit in the two games he has played in the month of August which doubles his hit total from July when he went 1-for-13 (.077) in five games. In more news from the “glass is half full” section, Smith is tied with Bellinger with five RBI on the year.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will look to even the series when they send Dustin May to the bump on Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. May doesn’t have a decision in his two starts in 2020 but owns a solid 2.65 ERA and has struck out seven in 7.2 innings pitched. He went 4.1 innings in the season opener and threw 60 pitches. May followed that with a 3.1-innings, 76-pitch outing at Houston last Wednesday. May appeared in four games, and made two starts, against San Diego last season. He pitched 13.0 innings, had a 3.46 ERA and a 1.077 WHIP. The Padres are scheduled to pitch Dinelson Lamet who is in his third MLB season – all with SD. He is 1-0 in his two starts in 2020. Lamet has gone 5.0 innings and given up one earned run in both starts. Lamet struck out eight in his first game against Arizona and then fanned seven at San Francisco on July 30. The Dodgers have had Lamet’s number in his four career starts vs. LA. He is 0-3 and has a 5.14 ERA in those four games. It gets better for the Dodgers as has allowed 19 hits and 13 walks in 21.0 innings pitched.
