Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — They blew it. There’s no other way to put it. The Dodgers took the best regular-season record in a generation and flushed it down the toilet. They took a finely tuned Maserati and the drove it into a ditch. On a cool, and rainy night in San Diego, what was supposed to be a magical season for the Dodgers’ came down to earth with a resounding thud. After getting out to a 3-0 lead against the Padres, questionable pitching decisions led to an inning straight out of the mouth of hell. And, after the five-run 7th was over, the Dodgers basically folded up the tent and went home, proud owners of a big fat nothing in the postseason yet again. If you’re into reliving the pain of Saturday night, here’s how the 5-3 loss to San Diego went down.
Both pitchers pitch around traffic early
This game pitted lefty Tyler Anderson against local hero in San Diego Joe Musgrove. And neither of them got off to the cleanest start imaginable. Musgrove worked around a double in the first and a single in the second, and Anderson gave up a two-out single in the first, and had men on first and second in the second inning. However, neither pitcher gave up a hit with men on base in the first two frames, so the game went into the third deadlocked in a scoreless tie.
Freddie finally breaks through
Coming into this game, the Dodgers were in an 0-for-20 funk with runners in scoring position. But in the top of the 3rd inning, the curse was finally broken. And for once, the top of the lineup sort of acted like it was supposed to. Mookie Betts started the rally with a one-out walk. Trea Turner, back in the lineup after injuring his finger late in Game 3, followed it up with a double into left to set the table for Freddie Freeman. And, after two and a half games of futility, Freddie came through. He ripped a double down the right field line that scored both Betts and Turner and the Dodgers were out in front 2-0. Savor that hit, Dodger fans, for it would be the last run-scoring hit of the year.
Anderson brilliant, but gets an early hook
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A starter is pitching well, but is pulled after only five innings, opening the door for the opponent to get back in the ballgame. Because that all-too-familiar scene is exactly what played out at Petco Park on Saturday. Dodger starter Tyler Anderson was pitching masterfully. And in fact, after the early traffic in the first two innings, there was barely a Padre on base in the next three.
Other than a walk to Aaron Nola in the fifth, Anderson was perfect. And at only 83 pitches, his pitch count was doing fine, especially considering this was an elimination game and he was pitching with the lead. Plus, since the day before had essentially been a bullpen game, you’d think manager Dave Roberts might see the value of trying to get one more inning or two out of a pitcher with a hot hand. You’d think that, but you’d be wrong.
This is the Dodgers were talking about here. Whether it was decided by Friedman et al before the game began, or it was Roberts’ own on-field decision, Anderson was removed with plenty left in the tank. That gave the overworked Dodgers’ pen four innings that they had to cover, which as it turned out was a tall order on this night. Still, you have to at least credit Anderson for pitching the game of his life when the Dodgers most needed it, even if it was all for naught in the end. Anderson’s final line for the night: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.
Dodgers tack on, but don’t take full advantage
In the top of the 7th inning, the Dodgers had a chance to put the Padres away. And they didn’t. And once again, it was the top of the order who were getting things done. Mookie Betts led off with a walk from new reliever Steven Wilson and quickly took second on a wild pitch. Wilson was having trouble zeroing in on the strike zone early on, and it looked like a chance for the Dodgers to add on. Trea Turner then laid down a perfect bunt (yes, the Dodgers bunted!), pushing Betts to third and leaving Turner safe at first with a single. After Freddie Freeman got hit on the foot with a pitch, the bases were loaded for new dad Will Smith (his baby had been born in LA earlier in the day).
On the first pitch, Smith hit a fly ball to Jurickson Profar in left that was plenty deep to score Betts, and the Dodgers extended their lead to 3-0. But the Dodgers had a chance to put their boot on the Padres’ neck here and they just couldn’t do it. After Tim Hill replaced Steven Wilson on the mound, Max Muncy struck out and Justin Turner grounded to short and the Dodgers would have to settle for one. This was exactly the kind of inning that during the regular season would have resulted in a three-spot being hung on the board. But not on this night. The Dodgers went into the final innings needing just nine more outs to force a Game 5 back in LA.
Implosion!
Then came the inning that will haunt Dodger fans for the rest of our lives: the bottom of the 7th. Ugh. I shudder even writing this it was so off -the-charts horrible. But relive it we must, so that we can get beyond it and have some peace this winter.
The decision to remove Anderson after five created a snowball effect on the Dodgers’ pen. Chris Martin was used up in the 7th. After he pitched a scoreless frame, Roberts only had a few pieces to work with. Bringing in Treinen or May was probably off the table, since they were unknown commodities. Andrew Heaney was out as well, due to his three innings of work on Friday. So that meant, the last nine outs would have to come from some combination of Phillips, Graterol, Kahnle, Almonte, and Vesia.
It fell to Tommy Kahnle to pitch to the bottom of the Padres’ batting order. And it could have gone a whole lot better, to be quite honest. Jurickson Profar drew a leadoff walk (DON’T WALK THE LEADOFF MAN!!!). Then, on the next pitch Trent Grisham hit a single into center, moving Profar to third. Kahnle got catcher Austin Nola into a 0-2 count, but Nola managed to ground a ball to the right side of the infield that glanced off Freddie Freeman’s glove for a single. Profar scored easily on the play, and now the Dodgers were in deep, deep trouble.
Putting out the fire with gasoline
Still leading 3-1, Dave Roberts called on Yency Almonte to get the Dodgers out of the inning. With the infield pulled in anticipating a bunt, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim hit a hard shot past Max Muncy at third. By the time Chris Taylor got the ball back into the infield, Trent Grisham had scored, Nola was hugging third, and Kim was on second with a double. It was 3-2 and there was still nobody out.
That brought up the famous (infamous?) Juan Soto. And with one swing, he wiped away the disappointments that had characterized much of his 2022 campaign. He ripped a solid single into right to score Nola with the tying run and move Kim to third. And there was still nobody out.
Then, Almonte calmed down a bit. He got a strikeout of Manny Machado and retired Brandon Drury on a first-pitch pop foul. Suddenly it looked like the Dodgers might escape the inning with a tie. Not ideal, but a lot better than it had been looking three minutes earlier.
The final blow
Then something very weird happened. With lefty second baseman Jake Croneworth on deck, Alex Vesia had begun to throw in the Dodgers’ pen. The plan, according to Roberts, was for Almonte to throw over to first a time or two to buy some more time for Vesia to get ready. Somehow the signal never made it to Almonte, and the Dodger reliever threw a first-pitch ball to Croneworth. That brought Dave Roberts hopping out of the dugout for a rare mid-at-bat pitching change. Vesia came in with one fewer ball to work with.
From the get-go, Vesia didn’t look particularly sharp. He missed with his first pitch, and then got a called strike on a pitch that was just out of the zone on the outside corner. After getting a foul ball on an elevated four-seamer, Vesia was one strike away from getting the Dodgers back to the bat rack. And, he threw almost exactly the same pitch in the same location that he’d gotten the strike call on two pitches earlier. This time home plate ump John Tumpane wouldn’t bite. Instead of a strikeout, Cronenworth lived to see another pitch.
And that next pitch essentially ended the Dodgers’ season. Cronenworth banged a solid line drive into centerfield that scored both baserunners. It was 5-3 Padres, and the San Diego comeback was now complete. Vesia would get out of the inning two batters later to finally stop the bleeding, but the damage had been done: Ten batters. One walk. Four singles. One double. Five runs. It was about as ugly of an inning as you’re likely to see anywhere anytime. It was awful.
Dodgers go quietly
After the shock of the seventh inning, it seemed like the Dodgers didn’t have the heart to go on, even though it was still a tight game. They went out in order in the 8th, and Josh Hader struck out Betts, Turner, and Freeman in the 9th to end the Dodgers’ season.
111 wins. And bumped in the first round. Not great.
Dodgers’ year is over, questions abound
So Dodger fans can only watch while once again another team hoists the trophy this year. They won’t be alone. Of the teams that won 100 games this year, only the Astros* survived the LDS round. The Mets, the Braves, and yes, the Dodgers have all gone home much earlier than any of them wanted. It will be the Phillies and the Padres who will fight it out for supremacy in the NL this year, robbing us all of an expected rematch between the Dodgers and the Braves.
And to lose to the Padres, a team the Dodgers dominated all year long, a team they finished 22 games ahead of in the standings. According to stat guru Sara Langs, the Dodgers’ loss to the Padres is the biggest upset in terms of the records of the two teams since 1906. That is a very very long time. And now, we have to live with Padres’ fans nonsense for the next twelve months. The indignity of it all is almost too much to put into words.
Meanwhile, Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts can only shake their heads. Somehow, their vaunted system that has produced unparalleled regular season success has only delivered one World Series ring in nearly a decade. The Dodgers’ brain trust needs to look closely at what they are doing. Nothing is off the table.
Winning in October is different from winning in the regular season. And being good at one thing doesn’t necessarily mean you will be good at the other.
