Dodgers’ bats quiet again in second straight loss to Friars

SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers exploded for eleven runs in their first game against the Padres on April 16. Since then, the Padres’ pitchers have pretty much shut down the vaunted Dodger offense, holding them to an average of three runs a game. Tuesday night was more of the same. The Dodgers just couldn’t seem to get the clutch hit early, and though they scored a couple runs late, it wasn’t enough. They fell to the the Padres for the second straight night, this time by a score of 3-2.

Kershaw made two costly mistakes

In a battle of Cy Young winners, you don’t expect a lot of offense. It was Clayton Kershaw vs. Blake Snell at Petco Park in the middle game of this three-game set. Kersh actually pitched pretty well for the Dodgers, giving up only four hits over six innings of work. Unfortunately for him, two of those four hits went over the fence. Jake Cronenworth smashed a home run for the second straight night when he took Clayton deep for a two-run shot in bottom of the first inning. And then, Korean rookie Ha-Seong Kim mashed a pinch-hit four-bagger in the fifth inning to put the Padres up 3-0.

And that was it for the Padres. Kershaw allowed only four other baserunners all night, only two of whom got into scoring position. So, if not for those two bad pitches, Kershaw would have had a very nice night in San Diego. His final line for the evening: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 7 K. Taking the loss on Tuesday moves his record to 8-7.

Dodgers leave runners stranded all night

Against Blake Snell, on the other hand, the Dodgers had their scoring opportunities. They had baserunners in three of Snell’s five innings of work. But they just couldn’t get a key hit to break through against Snell. After coming over from the Rays in the off season, Snell has struggled to find his footing as a Padres starter. However, he has been very good in his starts at home, and this game was no different. He bent, but did not break, and in the end pitched five innings of shut-out ball.

Dodgers break through in eighth

The Dodgers, having squandered their scoring opportunities early in the game, had to try to make something happen late in the game. They couldn’t solve reliever Nabil Crismatt in the sixth or the seventh, but in the eighth, it looked like they might have something going. Chris Taylor led off the inning with a single to left for his second hit of the game (#voteCT3). Then, after Crismatt walked Justin Turner, Albert Pujols singled to the opposite field.

Suddenly, the bases were loaded with Dodgers and there was nobody out. Hot-hitting Will Smith came to the plate, and did exactly what he shouldn’t have done in this situation. He grounded into a double play to Manny Machado, who tagged the runner and then threw to second for a force. A run scored, but the rally was dealt a mortal blow. The next hitter, AJ Pollock, grounded to third, and the Padres escaped with only one Dodger run across.

Barnes’ 9th inning homer is not quite enough

Thanks to good relief pitching from Victor Gonzalez, Blake Treinen, and Jimmy Nelson, the Dodgers headed into the top of the ninth still only trailing by two. When Austin Barnes came off the bench and blasted a one-out home run against closer Mark Melancon, there seemed like there might be some life left in the LA lineup.

Now trailing by one, the Dodgers put the tying run on when Taylor got yet another hit, this time a single up the middle. Justin Turner came up with two out and Taylor on first. He gave a ball a ride to the right field corner, but Wil Myers was able to track it down to end the ball game.

Dodgers continue to struggle in big games

So now, after winning the first two against the Padres, the Dodgers have dropped six of eight. Not great. If the Dodgers want to repeat as champions they simply have to show up in these big series. It’s not enough to just sweep the Pirates and D-backs. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to go toe to toe with some real competition, and the Dodgers still haven’t proven they can do that this season.

The Dodgers try to salvage the last game of the series on Wednesday night, Trevor Bauer takes the mound for his first start since these new wacky foreign substance protocols have been put in place. It should be, um, interesting. 7:10 first pitch from Petco. Then, it’s home for the Cubbies and Giants. Big week of baseball for the Boys in Blue.