Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — It looked like it was going to be a rout. It turned out to be a nail-biter. But it was a win either way. The Dodgers jumped all over starter Mike Clevinger with five early runs, and made it hold up even though starter Julio Urias faltered a bit in a three-run fifth. In the end, the bullpen came through to preserve the margin of victory, and the Dodgers had the first game of the series in the W column.
Trea attacks early
After starter Julio Urías pitched a scoreless top of the first, the Dodgers offense (at least part of it) showed no signs of layoff. In this one it was Trea Turner who ignited the fire. Turner, who had been struggling mightily over the last several weeks, wasted no time on Tuesday night. On a 1-1 count in the bottom of the first, Turner demolished a fastball on the inner part of the plate. He put that sweet Turner swing on the ball, the one that’s been absent for a hot minute, and deposited the ball among the paying customers in the centerfield pavilion. The Dodgers were up 1-0, and just starting to tee off on Clevinger.
Turner’s blast was followed a couple of hitters later by a Will Smith double to restart the inning. Then, Max Muncy had a fine at-bat in which the Dodger slugger went the other way with a pitch and grounded it through the vacated shortstop position. The shifted infield could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced into left centerfield, easily scoring Smith on the play.
A crooked number in the third
The Dodgers chased Clevinger from the game once and for all in the bottom of the third. Trea Turner followed up his homer with a leadoff double to the gap, and the Dodgers were back in business. After a Freddie Freeman flyout, Will Smith hit his second double of the night and just like that it was 3-0.
But the Dodgers weren’t done. After a Max Muncy walk, Gavin Lux hit a two-out double to score Smith to make it a 4-0 advantage. Finally, after another walk loaded the bases, Cody Bellinger hit a hot shot to the right side that first baseman Wil Myers couldn’t field cleanly. By the time he had collected the ball, Belli was safe at first, and Muncy had scampered home to make it 5-0. And Dodger Stadium was rockin’.
Julio was great. Until he wasn’t.
Through the first four innings, it was business as usual for Julio Urías. The first time and a half through the Padre lineup El Culichi was locked in. Other than a harmless Ausin Nola double in the third, Urías was perfect in those early frames, and it looked like he might be headed for another deep outing.
And then came the top of the fifth. It was the worst inning we’ve seen from Julio in a while, though there were only a couple of well hit balls. And, as had happened in New York, it was the bottom of the batting order that got the Padres going. Wil Myers started things off by reaching for a low curveball and hitting it just over the outstretched glove of Trayce Thompson in left and into the home run seats. It looked for a minute like a Dodger fan might have pulled a Bartman and interfered with Trayce’s play on the ball, but in the end, it was a home run, and the Padres were on the board.
That homer seemed to break Urías’s concentration a bit, because the next few hitters barreled him up pretty good. Jake Cronenworth pulled a single into right, and Ha-Seong Kim ripped a double into the gap, and suddenly the Padres had runners at second and third with nobody out. It was starting to look a whole lot more competitive out there, much to the chagrin of the Dodger faithful.
Urías buckled down and got a two quick outs, but they were both productive outs that allowed two more runs to score. Trent Grisham grounded out to the right side to advance both runners, and then Aaron Nola came through with a fly ball to left that scored Kim on a close play at the plate. And whoopsie-daisy, it was 5-3 and the mood in the Stadium started to sour a bit.
Padres pen shuts down Dodgers, but LA relievers equal to the task
The rest of the game was pretty quiet on both sides, nothing but zeroes for the next four innings. The Padres bullpen was magnificent in this one, giving up no hits after Clevinger was pulled from the game. The Padres got a couple of knocks off the Dodger pen, but there was never anything that you’d really call a threat. Except one.
The biggest trouble that the Dodgers had was in the 6th, when Dave Roberts opened up his pen to throw Evan Phillips at the top of the Padre lineup. Phillips got ahead of Juan Soto 1-2, but didn’t quite have his command zeroed in yet in the inning. He lost Soto on a 3-2 fastball that just barely missed wide for a leadoff walk. Then, Manny Machado hit a little bleeder down the third base line that just stayed fair. A couple of tough breaks, but Phillips was now in a big-time jam.
Padre manager Bob Melvin decided to roll the dice and pull Brandon Drury for a pinch hit appearance from NLDS hero Josh Bell. The switch-hitter Bell was hitting left-handed, and gave Phillips fits in a long at-bat. But on the 8th pitch, Bell swung and missed on an elevated fastball, and the first out of the inning was in the books.
Then came the key play of the entire game. Wil Myers came up and hit a rocket of a ground ball toward Gavin Lux’s glove side. Gavin moved a couple of steps, snagged the ball, and did a quick 360 spin before flinging it to a waiting Trea Turner at second. Turner’s end of things was equally slick, as he snatched the throw, stepped on the bag for the force an gunned it to Freddie Freeman to get Myers by half a step. A beautiful double play. Neither Lux nor Turner has played great defense this year, but in their first test of the postseason, they both passed with flying colors.
After the 6th inning, there wasn’t much happening for either team. Alex Vesia got five big outs in the 7th and 8th, including three punch-outs. Brusdar Graterol got his old buddy Manny Machado to sky a fly ball to left to end the inning, and Chris Martin gave up one hit in the 9th, but otherwise shut the door on the Padres’ hopes of a comeback.
So it was half a great game. The offense disappeared after the third inning, but the bullpen got the outs when they mattered and the defense came through in the clutch. And now with one win in the ledger, the Dodgers’ task this week just got a whole lot easier.
Kershaw and Darvish in Game 2
The Dodgers aren’t out of the woods yet in this one. Whenever there’s a five game series, it’s the job of the road team to get a split. That at least makes it competitive the rest of the way. So, the Padres will be pushing hard to get a win on Wednesday. But it’s Clayton Kershaw‘s job to see that that doesn’t happen. Kershaw will take the mound against his former Dodger teammate Yu Darvish, who was spectacular in the Friars’ Game 1 win in New York. I like the Dodgers’ chances in this one, but not by a lot. Runs will be sure to be at a premium in Game 2 of this one. Game time is an hour earlier, 5:35 PDT. So get your excuses to leave work ready to roll, because Dodger Stadium needs to be hopping on Wednesday! Let’s do this!
Cans of Corn…
- Trea was locked in all night. Every swing was on point. Just barely missed a second home run in the 6th.
- Mookie Betts missed a grand slam by about ten feet when he couldn’t keep a blast in the third quite fair.
- Quiet night for Freddie: 0-for-3
- Hanser Albert was left off the roster in favor of Miguel Vargas.
- Chris Taylor was said to be “available” but didn’t play on Tuesday.
- May and Treinen both get roster spots for the NLDS.
- Craig Kimbrel does not.
