Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — The Padres came into Dodger Stadium with their spiffy new lineup looking to make a statement against the division-leading Dodgers. Near as I can tell, the only statement they made was, “Thank you, sir, may I have another.”
After an emotional pregame ceremony honoring the late Vin Scully, the Dodgers put a big-time hurt on the Padres, scoring early and often. In the end, it was a 12-hit attack that netted two big innings, and the Dodgers coasted to an easy 8-1 victory over the Padres in the first game of a weekend set.
Dodgers jump out to 4-0 lead
After Tony Gonsolin gave up a couple of hits (one to Juan Soto), but no runs in the top of the first, the Dodgers got down to business very quickly in the bottom of the frame. With big lefty Sean Manaea on the mound, Doc stacked his lineup with right-handed bats for this one, and it paid dividends right from the get-go. Mookie Betts led off the frame with a solid double to left on the second pitch he saw. This is all a piece of Betts’ new aggressive approach at the plate. Now that he’s up there ripping it, it’s really paying off.
Trea Turner followed up the Betts double with a single to left to corner the runners with nobody out. Manaea then got deeper into the soup by clipping Freddie Freeman with a pitch to load up the bases. Note to the Padres: loading up the bases against this ballclub is a very bad idea.
With new Padre Brandon Drury in the lineup, Manny Machado and his Gold Glove defense were on the bench playing DH in this one, and it came back to bite the Padres almost immediately. Will Smith hit a slow roller to Drury that he should have just eaten and let the run score. Instead, he threw wildly to first and first baseman Josh Bell couldn’t make a play on. Suddenly it was 2-0 and there was still nobody out.
Then, after a Chris Taylor K (welcome back, CT3), Hanser Alberto came up and immediately rewarded Dave Roberts‘s confidence in him. He hit a double to the corner in left that cleared the bases, and it was 4-0 Dodgers and somewhere Vin was smiling.
Welcome back, CT3!
The train kept a rollin’ in the bottom of the fourth with a couple more runs courtesy of Chris Taylor. Freddie Freeman led off the frame by doinking a little chip shot over the infield. Will Smith then went the opposite way with a single to Soto in right and took second when the throw went to third. Then, up came Chris Taylor for his second at-bat off the the IL. And he made this one count. He hit a resounding smash to left that easily scored both baserunners. Taylor busted out of the box and slid in just under the tag for a two-run double.
And speaking of two-run doubles…
But the Dodgers weren’t done in the inning. After a Hanser Alberto flyout and a Miguel Vargas whiff, Cody Bellinger came up to the plate, the lone left-handed bat in the lineup save Freddie Freeman. But the lefty-lefty matchup didn’t seem to bother Belli on this night. Looking very comfortable in the box, Bellinger ripped a 2-1 sinker from Manaea into the right field corner, and lo and behold, it was 8-0 and the rout was on.
Gonsolin bends but does not break
Meanwhile, the “new-look” Padres were looking a lot like the “old-look” Padres, i.e. not that great. Dodger starter Tony Gonsolin gave up a couple of singles in the first and a two-out double to our “old buddy” Manny Machado in the second, but settled in nicely after that. Gifted to a 8-0 lead, Gonsolin attacked the zone the rest of the way, and retired seven Padres he faced. The Cat Man was lifted after 98 pitches and five innings in line for his 12th W of the year. His line for night: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
Pen continues to put up zeroes
After Gonsolin left the game, it was up to the second tier of Dodger relievers to bring the ship into port. And they did just that. David Price had a nice 1.2 innings before giving way to Reyes Moronta, who finished the seventh and pitched a scoreless 8th.
That gave Phil Bickford the final inning. He couldn’t quite keep the shutout. Josh Bell walked, went to second on defensive indifference, to third on an infield out, and then scored on a sacrifice fly. It wasn’t exactly the offensive firepower that the new Padres had promised. Though he gave up the cheap run, Bickford seems to be getting better as the season wears on. Prior to Friday, he had 7 straight scoreless appearances. If we can get him and Vesia back to a good place, this bullpen will be unstoppable.
Heaney returns to action on Saturday
After winning their 6th in a row, the Boys in Blue look to get a series win out of the way on Saturday evening. They send lefty Andrew Heaney to the bump for his third start since returning from the IL. Thus far, Heaney has given up one earned run over eight innings of work. He matches up against Mike Clevinger, who is yet to face the Dodgers this season. He is doing okay in limited action this year. He got a late start due to Tommy John last year, and has had a couple of IL stints this season, so he’s only thrown 60 innings this year. Still, his ERA is a respectable 3.18 over that sample size. We’ll see what he’ll bring to the table on Saturday. Game time, 6:10 pm.
Cans of Corn…
- While the offense will get the headlines in this one, it was good to see Tony Gonsolin get a strong outing after a couple shaky ones in a row.
- Not a dry eye in the house during the pre-game ceremony. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
- Juan Soto, in his Padre debut against the Dodgers, went 1-for-3. When the game got out of hand, he was lifted for Nomar Mazara and finished the game riding the pines.
- Juan Soto got booed in this one, but Manny Machado is still the undisputed champ in that department.
- Nice work from David Price out of the pen in the sixth and seventh. He’s low-key having a very nice year.
- Joey Gallo got another opposite field hit, this one off position player Matthew Batten. Maybe Freddie Freeman is rubbing off on him.
- Also getting an at-bat against the lob-ball throwing Batten was Tyler Anderson. Yep, that Tyler Anderson. He struck out.
