Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—The Dodgers’ offense scored their only run in the series opener against San Diego with nobody out in the first inning and was never heard from again. Los Angeles wasted another solid start from Dustin May as they only mustered up two hits in the final eight innings on Monday and dropped a 2-1 decision to San Diego. LA drops to 11-6 on the year while the Padres win for the third time in the last four games and are now one game behind the Dodgers at 10-7.
GAME RECAP: May, getting his second straight start against San Diego, got out of the first inning after a nice running catch on the warning track in left field by Joc Pederson which robbed Trent Grisham of extra bases. He finished off the first by with another filthy, running 2-seam fastball that got Manny Machado to swing and miss badly. The Dodgers used the momentum from the top of the first to score their only run of the game in the bottom of the inning. Pederson walked to lead off the frame and then Mookie Betts followed with a solid single to left field. Cody Bellinger pulled a 1-2 fastball that raced by Eric Hosmer at first for a single. Pederson was able to score on the play without a throw home. Los Angeles failed to score another run in the frame in spite of having runners on the corners without an out.
May allowed single base runners in the second, third and fourth before the Padres’ worst hitter in the lineup tied the game with a 2-out solo home run in the fifth. Catcher Austin Hedges entered the game hitting under.100, and didn’t have a homer, until he got hold of a 1-1, 94 mph fastball/cutter that never changed planes. San Diego would score the game-winning run on a pair of walks and a 2-out single to left off the bat of Hosmer in the sixth.
The Dodgers didn’t have a hit after the fourth inning and went down in order in the eighth and ninth frames.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SERIES STUFF: Los Angeles and San Diego are now tied in their season series at 2-2. Both Padres’ wins came in the series opener and both were by a single run. The Dodgers, who are 15-7 against San Diego in the past two seasons, have a narrow 6-5 edge at home during that time.
OBSCURE STATS STUFF: The Dodgers are now 1-4 this year in 1-run games in 2020 and are 6-3 when they score first. The loss was only the second time this season they have dropped a game when holding their opponent to under three runs. They are now 10-2 in those contests.
KEY MOMENT: The biggest moment of the game came in the bottom of the fourth with the Dodgers holding a 1-0 lead. Justin Turner singled to center to lead off the frame. Max Muncy reached on an infield single and Chris Taylor was beaned on the left shoulder to load the bases with no one out. Los Angeles squandered the chance to take control of the game when Matt Beaty struck out swinging and Edwin Ríos pulled a line drive inside first base that Hosmer was able to reach to his left and snare and then beat Taylor back to the bag to complete the inning-ending double play. The Padres would tie the game in their next at-bat when Mr. Warning Track Power Hedges hit a rare long ball.
RUNNERS MIGHT NOT BE IN SCORING POSITION: A key to the missed chances with runners on third with no outs in the first and fourth innings was the Dodgers’ inability to come up with the clutch hit. Los Angeles was 1-for-8 (.125) with runners in scoring position. LA is hitting .248 as a team with runners in scoring position in 2020 which is 18th in MLB.
MAY-BE NEXT START: May wasn’t as sharp as his last start against the Padres when he had a career-high 8 Ks and recorded his first win of the season, but he went a similar 6.0 innings. May threw 83 pitches on Monday which is one more than he had at San Diego. His stat line read 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 2K. May’s ERA for the year is now 2.75 which is second among LA starters. He hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his four starts in 2020.
BRIGHT SIDE BULLPEN: Once again the bullpen was a bright spot for the Dodgers. LA used three relievers to finish the finals three innings after May left. Caleb Ferguson came on in the seventh and got the first two outs on eight pitches. He then allowed a walk to the No.9 hitter Jurickson Profar. Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts pulled Ferguson and brought in Blake Treinen for the righty-righty match-up against media darling Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis would have the bat taken out of his hand as Profar was thrown out trying to steal second by Will Smith. Treinen would continue in the game and get out of a jam in the eighth. Tatis Jr. hit a bloop single to left to start the inning and then Treinen walked Grisham. Taylor proceeded to bail Treinen out with a saucy, sliding, backhand stab of a hot grounder hit off the bat of Machado. Taylor then threw a strike to second to start the 6-4-3 DP. Treinen finished his outing by getting Tommy Phan to strike out. Scott Alexander pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning and struck out one.
Treinen and Alexander continued their season-long streak without allowing an earned run. Treinen has appeared in eight games and pitched 7.1 innings without allowing an earned run while Alexander has pitched in five games and 5.1 innings and hasn’t allowed an earned run.
BRIGHT BLUE PEN: In the last 13 games the Blue Pen has allowed only seven earned runs in 54.1 innings pitched. That breaks down to a nifty 1.16 ERA. The overall season stats for the Blue Pen are just as tasty as they have compiled a 1.39 ERA in 71.0 innings pitched. They are second in MLB in ERA and third in batting average against (.182) and WHIP (0.96).
MR. 999: Turner had one of the two hits in the final eight innings for the Dodgers. His fourth-inning leadoff single brought his career total to 999. Cue the confetti cannon and the guy who verifies milestone balls.
BETTS BATS: Betts went 1-for-4 on the night, and has now hit safely in nine of the past 10 games he has a plate appearance. He is tied with Corey Seager for the team lead in hits with 17. Betts will be the next Dodgers’ player to enter the 1,000-hit club. His base knock in the first was the 982nd of his career.
MIDDLE MEN: The Dodgers’ offense is a 4th-5th-6th inning team in 2020. Los Angeles has only scored a 17 runs in the first three frames this year while they have put 39 on the board in the middle innings and 33 in the final three.
HOME RUN STREAK GOING, GOING GONE: The Dodgers had their 11-game home run streak come to a halt on Monday. It was only the third game all season that Los Angeles hadn’t gone yard. No surprisingly, they have a losing record in those three games (1-2).
ON DECK: The Dodgers will turn to their 3-game winner for the start in Game 2. Ross Stripling will climb up on the bump for his fourth start of the year – and first since beating the Padres on Aug. 5. Stripling has a 4.00 ERA and a career-low 1.000 WHIP to go along with his 3-0 record. He went 5.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits in his last outing against San Diego. Stripling is 5-5 lifetime against the Padres with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.275 WHIP. He is 13-8 with a 3.06 ERA in his 59 career games at Dodger Stadium. LA will face Garrett Richards who was supposed to be the starter on Monday but got pushed back a day. Richards got his first loss of the year last Wednesday when he went the first 5.0 innings and allowed four earned runs in the Dodgers’ 7-6 win. Richards is 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14.0 innings pitched at Dodger Stadium. His last start in Chavez Ravine came back in 2014.
