LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers had little answers for the San Diego Padres this week, giving up two games of a three game home series. It was the Padres’ first series win over the Dodgers in two years.
Both teams started Monday’s series opener hot on offense, quickly burning through each other’s dugouts. The Padres kicked the game off with an RBI single from Juan Soto, scoring Ha-Seong Kim. The Dodgers answered back with Mookie Betts hitting a solo homerun in the bottom of the first inning, his 39th of the season. The game stayed steady with the Dodgers scoring one more run in the bottom of the second and the Padres adding another run in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third inning, the Dodgers scored five runs (including infielder Max Muncy’s 35th home run of the season) and took a 7-2 lead.
Manny Machado brought the Padres back with two home runs, a solo at the top of the fourth inning and an RBI for Soto in the top of the sixth. Add in RBIs from Luis Campusano and Matthew Batten, and the score was tied 7-7 to wrap up the sixth.
The Padres looked to counter after Dodger outfielders James Outman and Chris Taylor botched a flyball in left field to start off the ninth. With runners on first base and third base, Juan Soto broke the game open hitting a three-run homerun in the top of the ninth inning, his 29th of the season. Xander Bogaerts followed this up with a solo home run, leaving the Dodgers four runs down. The Dodgers mustered one with J.D. Martinez’s RBI single to center field, but the Padres hung on to win game one of the series 11-8.
Evan Phillips picked up the loss for the Dodgers, pitching just one inning and allowing 4 runs. Padres pitcher Robert Suarez picked up the win on one inning with no hits and one strikeout.
Coming off of the loss, the Dodgers bounced back in game two with a stellar performance from starting pitcher Lance Lynn. Lynn pitched 7.0 innings, allowing just two runs and five hits. Timely hits for the Dodgers allowed the club to pile on runs against the Padres pitching staff. Freddie Freeman went four for five, hitting his 26th season home run in the bottom of the third inning. Will Smith went two for three on the day with a home run and three RBI’s.
The Padres managed to tack on two runs, with Trent Grisham getting in on a fielder’s choice RBI and Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting his 24th home run of the season. But in the end, the Dodgers took the game 11-2.
But in game three, the Padres took over. Starting pitcher Blake Snell shut the Dodgers down in six innings, with no runs and eight strikeouts. Soto went two for four, adding his 30th home run of the season in the top of the first. Campusano also went two for four on the day, including a three-run home run in the top of fourth inning. Tatis Jr. piled on two hits and two RBIs.
The Dodgers were held scoreless through eight innings, but pinch hitter Kolten Wong broke the shutout, launching a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. But the Dodgers couldn’t find any more offense, and the Padres closed out the series with a 6-1 win.
With the loss to the Padres, the Dodgers record stands at 88-57 for the season, 48-26 at home. The Padres improved their record to 69-78, but still sit fourth in the National League West. Even with the Padres winning this series, The Dodgers still take the overall season series, finishing the season with a 9-4 record against the Padres.
The Dodgers now travel to Seattle for a three-game series against the Mariners starting Friday.