Perhaps the Padres’ worst game of the season came at a horrible moment. Although the Dodgers’ 6-0 loss may not have seemed like their worst performance of the season, the final score could have—and probably should—been considerably more disparate.
Maybe at the top of the first inning, we should have all known how this one would turn out. After leading off with a single off of Blake Snell, his old colleague, Fernando Tatis Jr. was caught stealing second base. Manny Machado reached on an infield single after Luis Arraez doubled, but Machado was thrown at second base on a double steal attempt.
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Overall, Snell gave up five hits in 6.0 shutout innings as the Padres worked themselves into three outs on the bases in the first two frames before deciding to simply stop getting players on the basepaths. Given how much Dylan Cease labored, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference even if those runners had stayed on base and possibly even scored.
At the trade deadline, San Diego hung onto Cease in the hopes that he would use his exceptional skills to make a difference in games like these. He unraveled instead, walking the game’s first three batters. After one of them scored on a sacrifice fly, Cease walked a second batter to load the bases once more, and this time he was unable to get off the hook. Michael Conforto scored two runs and put the Los Angeles team ahead 3-0 with a single to right field.
When Cease walked two more batters in front of Freddie Freeman in the second inning, he found himself in danger once more. A fly ball that appeared to be headed out of the yard was lofted to deep right-centerfield by the former MVP. Jackson Merrill, the centerfielder, overran it and was unable to make the adjustment, so it died at the warning track instead. The ball slid in for a two-run mistake after glancing off his glove.
The Padres were doomed to drop back into second place at that time since the Dodgers had scored five runs on precisely one hit. If Yu Darvish can defeat Tyler Glasnow on Sunday, San Diego can avoid getting swept at Dodger Stadium and pull back into a tie atop the National League West.
