Dodgers Postgame: L.A. Drops Series Opener to Darvish, Padres
The Dodgers dropped the series opener to the Padres on Friday night, 7-1, losing a game in which Dustin May just didn’t have it and Yu Darvish really, really did. Three home runs — two two-run shots and a three-run dinger — accounted for all of the Padres’ runs.
The Dodgers were held scoreless on just two hits until the ninth inning, when a double by Justin Turner was followed by an RBI single by Joey Gallo off Nabil Crismatt. The Dodgers had visions of turning Hanser Alberto into the winning pitcher after he pitched a scoreless ninth inning, but the rally faded as Cody Bellinger struck out and Alberto flied out to end the game.
Alberto’s appearance was his seventh of the season, but his first in a loss. Still, the seven appearanes are a record.
Hanser Alberto has now appeared in seven games as a pitcher — the most-ever by a position player in one season.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 3, 2022
Command issues catch up to May in the third
After walking three batters but getting away with it over the first two innings, the Padres made May pay in the third. After he walked Juan Soto for the second time, Manny Machado got the Padres first hit, a 410-foot blast over the wall in left field to give San Diego a 2-0 lead.
May then hit Jake Cronenworth with a cutter that cut too much, and Brandon Drury made him pay by hitting a ball to almost the same exact spot Machado hit his.
Just like that, the Dodgers were down 4-0.
Hembree almost saves May, but not quite
In the sixth inning, May hit Drury with a pitch and then walked Trent Grisham, and his night was over. Heath Hembree came on in relief, and he struck out Ha-Seong Kim and Austin Nola. He had an 0-2 count on Jurickson Profar and was on the verge of getting out of the inning, but Profar battled and eventually hit a three-run homer on a hanging curveball. Two of the runs were charged to May, who finished the day with six earned runs allowed in five innings pitched.
The goal for May in this game was to get stretched out, and in that sense it was a success, as he threw 87 pitches. But Dave Roberts and his staff probably would have preferred to see better command from the flamethrower.
Dodgers can’t solve Darvish
Darvish was outstanding, throwing seven shutout innings on 111 pitches. He allowed just six baserunners (two hits, two walks, and two hit batters) and struck out nine.
HBP-palooza
There were four hit batters in this game, two on each side, and while no one on either team seemed to think any of them were intentional, the umpires warned both benches after the fourth one. Something to keep an eye on for the last two games of the series.
Up next
The Dodgers and Padres continue their series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Julio Urias will face off against Sean Manaea. First pitch is at 6:10 pm PT.
Headline should read May got hammered!
It used to be the Dodgers would find their relievers as a result of a dumpster dive. Now it’s a septic tank. WTF?! Reed, Hembree, Bickford, etc.
Yes May was off. He just didn’t have his command. Struggled to throw strikes. To be expected coming off the IL and not pitching in a long while. The real concern should be the offense. Muncy’s August tear is over. Belli continues to suck as well as Taylor and Gallo. We can carry one struggling player, maybe two, but not three or four. Mookie and Lux out of the lineup didn’t help. Hopefully they were just jet lagged and will come out strong tonight.
Last I checked the red hot hitting Outman was still tearing up AAA, while the front office looks at their Mendoza line and below outfielder collection in the big club. Please list all the reasons you believe Outman is still in AAA with Taylor and Gallo having serious trouble putting the wood on the horse hide.
AMEN! And why so high on Vargas, who started well when he was up last time, but soon faded and is ,by most accounts, a below average defender? Bring Outman back up, not all this talk about Vargas! Outman can show whether it was a fluke the first time, but my guess is it wasn”t
Go Padres! Wahoo
What no one seems to be saying the last three games is that the Dodger’s “most feared lineup of hitters in baseball” batters look very beatable when facing quality pitching, the type of pitching they will face in the playoffs, of course. It is like they were on autopilot for several weeks after the All-Star break and have now come back to reality. Given what I’ve seen in NY and now SD, there is no lock by the team for a WS ring.