First Game vs. Padres is a dud from the get-go

SAN DIEGO — Well, that was thoroughly disappointing, now, wasn’t it? Coming in off a 10-2 run against lower level competition, the Dodgers got shocked back to reality on Monday night. The San Diego Padres shelled starter Julio Urias in the first inning, batting around and putting four runs on the board. In the end, it wasn’t much of a game, with the Padres taking a 6-2 victory at PetCo Park.

After Padres starter Yu Darvish pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Padres jumped all of Urias in the bottom of the frame. Tommie Pham led off with a double and Fernando Tatis Jr. walked, and quickly the Padres were in business. Jake Cronenworth then ripped a run-scoring double to left to put the Padres on the board. Then, with the biggest blow of the inning, everybody’s favorite ex-Dodger Manny Machado mashed a three-run home run to left center. Before an out was recorded, the Dodgers found themselves in an 0-4 hole.

Cronenworth came up big a second time in the bottom of the fifth, when he mashed a two-run shot to right off Urias to drive him from the ball game. It was definitely a sub-par performance for Urias on Monday night. He just wasn’t missing many bats, and gave up a lot of solid contact in that first inning. And even more troubling, the usual strike-throwing machine gave up four walks. His line for the evening: 4.0+ IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5K.

As for the Dodgers, two words: Yu. Darvish. Try as they might, they could not solve the puzzle of Darvish in this game. He had the Dodgers off balance all of his outing, only surrendering a single run on a solo shot from Mookie Betts in the third inning. The good news is that it was Betts’ third home run in the last seven games, and during that stretch he has been hitting close to .300. If we can get Betts-like production out of Betts, the Dodgers will be in very good shape going forward.

Still, other than the Betts home run, Darvish was fully in control all night. He went six innings and gave up only two hits, striking out eleven along the way. The Dodgers did get a second run in the game, a Will Smith homer in the top of the eighth. But it was too little too late. Padres relievers held the Dodger bats in check and they were never really in the game in the late innings. In fact, the Dodgers struck out SIXTEEN times in this game. Not. Great.

Oh well. Flush this one and come back strong on Tuesday night. Clayton Kershaw will try to right the ship in the second game of this three-game set. His mound opponent, our friend from the World Series, Blake Snell, who actually has been scuffling quite a bit recently. Over his last seven starts, Snellzilla’s ERA is 7.26. So, we shall see. Game time, 7:10.