Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — The Dodgers gave this one away. And San Diego very nearly gave it right back to them. But the Dodgers weren’t to be denied. They proved to be the masters of the miscue on this error-filled night. After a sloppy game, there was an even sloppier ending, as three walks from Craig Kimbrel led to the Padres scoring the winning run to beat the Dodgers 4-3 in 10 innings. So, the Dodgers are going to have to wait at least one more game to break the season record for wins. Let’s recap this comedy of errors, shall we?
Missed double play chance leads to early runs for Padres
The poor defense started early in this one. In the bottom of the first with Juan Soto at first, Manny Machado hit the ball to Justin Turner that could have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, Turner stumbled in fielding the ball and could only get a force at second, so the inning continued. Long enough for Brandon Drury to hit a double and Wil Myers to drive home two runs with a single. Sub-optimal.
Anderson great in no-decision
After he survived the shaky first, Tyler Anderson was lights out, retiring the last 16 hitters he faced. In a just world, he’d have a win, and we’d be talking about where he would pitch in the post-season rotation. Instead, he left the game with a no-decision, and will have to comfort himself knowing that he did all he could in this one. TA’s final line for the night: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Dodgers tie it up in two-run 6th
Before Anderson exited the game, the Dodgers managed to get on the board when it was the Padres turn to play a little bad defense. After begin unable to solve Blake Snell yet again for five innings, the Dodgers had an opportunity in his absence in the 6th. Trea Turner led off by banging a single to the opposite field. Then, reliever Nick Martinez thought he’d get a little cute with a pick-off move and instead got charged with an error on the play that sent Turner to second. Then after walks to Freddie Freeman and Justin Turner, the bases were loaded with one out.
Max Muncy hit a ground ball to the right side that second baseman Jake Croneworth went to second with to try to turn a double play. Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim‘s relay to first for just late (on appeal) and the Dodgers had their first run of the ballgame. Two pitches later, Chris Taylor banged a solid single into center and we had ourselves a new ballgame.
Sloppy play on both sides leads to two more runs
In the bottom of the 8th, the Padres took a lead on a run that shouldn’t have scored for a couple different reasons. Catcher Austin Nola hit a very catchable ball to Chris Taylor in left that caromed off the webbing of his glove for a double. After back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Chris Martin relieved Caleb Ferguson and very nearly pitched his way out of the jam. After striking out Manny Machado, Martin induced a two-out ground ball from Brandon Drury that should have ending the inning. Instead, Justin Turner bobbled the play and allowed the run to score to give the Padres a 3-2 lead.
Passed ball ties it up in the 9th
Josh Hader came in to get the save for the Padres, but was greeted by Trea Turner smoking a double into the gap in left center for a leadoff hit. After Turner took third on an infield error on Ha-Seong Kim, Josh Hader threw a high two-seamer to Max Muncy that clanged off catcher Jorge Alfaro‘s glove and allowed a run to score, and suddenly once again, we had ourselves a new ballgame.
Tenth inning doesn’t go great
In the top of the 10th, the Dodgers got nothing going against reliever Pierce Johnson and ended up stranding the placed runner Chris Taylor at second. Craig Kimbrel came on in the bottom of the inning and did Craig Kimbrel things. Ha-Seong Kim led off by bunting the placed runner to third for the first out. Kimbrel then issued an intentional pass to Juan Soto to set up a mano a mano with Manny Machado. Kimbrel won that one, getting a swing-and-miss strike out on a high heater. So he was out of the woods, right?
Not so fast, young man; this is Craig Kimbrel we’re talking about. Kimbrel went to full counts on the the next two guys before walking them both. The final free pass to swing-and-miss happy Jorge Alfaro scored the placed runner from third. Game. Over. 4-3 Padres. Ugh.
“I was just yanking the ball,” Kimbrel said after the game. “Frustrated. That’s all I can say.”
“I thought that Machado at-bat, it was exactly where [his stuff] needed to be,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts coming slightly to his reliever’s defense. “And it was a big spot where he needed a punchout against a very good ballplayer. I know he’s frustrated, but we have to keep going.”
Urias goes for win #18 on Wednesday
Game Two of this final series with the Padres features probably the ERA leaders on each staff in 2022. Lefty Julio Urias will get the ball for the Dodgers, and righty Joe Musgrove is on the bump for the Padres. The Dodgers got four earned runs in 5.1 innings off Musgrove on 9/11, so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the table in this one. Urias, on the other hand, has been nearly perfect for three months, and he still has an outside (but fading) shot at this year’s Cy Young. He’ll need to finish very strong to get it, and given the fact that he’ll probably not go that deep into the game, the award is pretty much Alcantara’s to lose at this point. Still, Julio and the Dodgers have bigger fish to fry. Game time on Wednesday is 6:40 PDT.
Cans of Corn…
- Another solid Anderson start done in by bad defense and a failure to score runs.
- Three little letters: D. F. A.
- Padres Twitter was all up in arms on JT’s slide in the 6th. Screw ’em. Clean play.
- Nice day at the plate from Trea: 3-for-5 with two runs scored
- Lots of LOB in this one: 14, 1-for-17 with RISP.
- Tommy Kahnle very impressive.
- Caleb Ferguson is still not finding the plate as consistently as the Dodgers would like.
- Andrew Heaney will pitch on Thursday, but as a “bulk guy” and not a starter. Possible Dry run for playoff usage.
- Tony Gonsolin went 2.0 scoreless innings at OKC this evening. Looked great. Hope is to start him his next turn in the rotation back in LA.
- Dustin May says he feels like his rehab is trending in the right direction. Confident of being ready for postseason.
- Blake Treinen resumed throwing before Tuesday’s game. Says it depends on how he bounces back whether or not he’ll be playoff-ready.
- David Price activated. Andre Jackson back on the shuttle to OKC.
