Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — This is who the Dodgers are right now. Let’s face facts. If they get out of this round, they will do so by survival. This is not the team that trounced all comers and raced to 111 wins this year. Nope, this is the team that dropped three in a row at home to the freakin’ Rockies in the last week of the season. Simply said, the best team in baseball is on the verge of postseason humiliation as once again, the bats fell silent in all the key moments of the game. They dropped a nail-biter to the Padres 2-1 at Petco on Friday night, and now they have an uphill climb to make it out of this round.
Cronenworth gets to Gonsolin in the 1st
On this night, it was Manny Machado who did the Dodgers in. Nope, he was held in check in this one, going 0-for-1 with three walks. Nor was it imports Juan Soto and Josh Bell. They were a collective 1-for-8. Nope, the damage in this game was done early by Jake Cronenworth. He, who went the entire Wild Card series without a hit, was the one who came through with a two-out RBI in the bottom of the first off Tony Gonsolin.
Truth be told, Gonsolin didn’t have his stuff tonight. It was a disappointing start in almost every way. The only good thing about it was that the Cat Man was able to limit the damage to just one run. After the Dodgers wasted a leadoff single from Mookie Betts in the top of the 1st, the Padres got busy in the bottom of the inning. Juan Soto got his one hit of the game, a one-out double. Then, after a walk and a pop-out put Gonsolin in a two-on, two-out situation, Cronenworth came up and worked the count full. Then, he stroked a Gonsolin splitter into center. The ball wasn’t hit hard enough to reach centerfielder Trayce Thompson, and Soto came home with the game’s first run.
Gonsolin gives way to Heaney
Gonsolin never made it out of the second inning in this one. In that frame, Trent Grisham and Austin Nola hit back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on the corners. That was it for Gonsolin. He wasn’t expected to go deep in the game, but the Dodgers were certainly hoping for more than just four outs. Playoff Gonsolin is still lagging behind regular season Gonsolin considerably.
That left it up to lefty Andrew Heaney to clean up the mess. And he did just that. The next hitter, Jurickson Profar, attempted a bunt, that sort of went off the bat and his finger and landed about two feet into fair territory. Catcher Austin Barnes scooped up the ball and tagged Profar out. Nola advanced to second, but the runner at third had to stay put. Heaney then got Juan Soto to hit a weak pop-up to end the inning. Crisis avoided, but it was a bullpen game from here on out.
Trent f**ckin’ Grisham!
Of all the people that would make a difference in this series, I have to admit, Padres centerfielder Trent Grisham wasn’t high on my list. But here he was, for the second straight night, having a fantastic night at the plate. After Heaney pitched a scoreless third, Grisham led off the fourth inning. Heaney started him off on a center-cut cookie that Grisham turned around fast. He hit an absolute rocket into the right field seats, and one pitch into the inning, the Dodgers were in an 0-2 hole. No bueno.
Dodgers’ futility with RISP continues
Once again, the Dodgers’ hitters were nowhere to be found when the chips were down. Just as they had on Wednesday night, the Dodgers had ample chances to tie or take the lead in this game, but just couldn’t convert. On Wednesday, it was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. This time, they did it one better (or worse) and went 0-for-9. So. Many. Missed. Chances.
The Dodgers did push across one single run in the top of the fifth to cut the lead in half though. Trayce Thompson got a bloop single, and Austin Barnes followed it up with a double to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Talk about ducks (or geese) on the pond! Fangraphs tells me that the expected runs in this situation is 1.92. In other words, the Dodgers should be taking the lead in this situation, especially with Betts, Turner, and Freeman coming to the plate.
They, in fact, did not take the lead. Mookie Betts did his job; he hit a long flyout to right to score Thompson and move Barnes to third. Then, in the biggest at-bats of the season so far, our two big bats came up empty. They guys who combine for nearly 400 hits during the season, got zilch in this spot where even one run would have completely changed the game. Or, even a good out from Trea Turner. Instead, Turner popped out weakly to Manny Machado in foul territory. Then, on the next pitch, Freddie Freeman hit a sharp ground ball to Manny Machado, who gunned it across the diamond and the threat was extinguished.
Pens trade zeroes the rest of the way
After that, the scoring in this game was over. The Dodgers wasted a Max Muncy double in the 6th, and Trea Turner got a leadoff infield single in the 8th, but was left stranded. It was a sad display from the team that was consistently solid in these situations all year long. Don’t lay this one on the bullpen. After being pressed into service very early, they went 7.2 innings and gave up just the homer off Heaney. Everybody else was great. After Heaney, it was Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, and Tommy Kahnle. No hits. All zeroes. Nails.
But the Padres pen was just as good, if not a tick better. After Snell exited, four Padres relievers went the final 3.2 innings in this one, with Josh Hader mowing down the Dodgers 1-2-3 in the 9th to secure the win.
Tyler Anderson gets the start on Saturday
With the Dodgers’ season on the line, the team will turn to a pitcher who wasn’t even on the roster at the start of spring training, and wasn’t in the rotation at the start of the season. The hopes of the Dodgers’ continuing in this season rests now on the left arm of Tyler Anderson, the under-the-radar free-agent signing that blossomed under the tutelage of Mark Prior and the Dodgers’ pitching brain trust. In case you’re wondering, Anderson has been great against the Padres. Four starts this season, in which he went a total of 24 innings and gave up only five earned runs. He’ll go up against hometown San Diego boy Joe Musgrove, who was so great in the Wild Card game against the Mets. Musgrove has made three starts against the Dodgers this year, accumulating 19.1 innings and giving up seven runs.
Cans of Corn…
- Been a rough 48 hours for Dodger fans.
- One clutch hit in each of these games, and it’s a sweep.
- Losing to the Mets would be bad. Losing to the Padres would be humiliation.
- Dodgers got to figure out who they are real fast.
- At least Atlanta is struggling, too.
