When the Padres and Dodgers play each other, the star players on each club most of the time determine the outcome. The stars of L.A. stole the show at Chavez Ravine all weekend long.
An example would be the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory and three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon after Mookie Betts hit a solo home run off Robert Suarez in the eighth inning. The Friars, who started the series with a 1.0-game lead in the National League West, now limp back to Petco Park a full 2.0 games behind.
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In the first inning, San Diego starter Yu Darvish was jumped on by the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman put Los Angeles ahead 3-0 with a three-run home shot. Darvish gave up four runs in the first inning, but he managed to survive three more innings without getting hit, which gave his offense an opportunity to rally, which is precisely what they accomplished.
Fernando Tatis Jr.’s double in the third inning gave San Diego a run, followed by Ramon Laureano’s home run in the fifth, Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI double in the sixth, and Xander Bogaerts’ grounder in the eighth to square the score. It was a wise move for Padres manager Mike Shildt to bring in MLB saves leader Suarez to preserve the lead in the eighth inning.
There’s a reason Betts will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He saw an elevated fastball for the third time, and Mookie hit it flawlessly, sending it into the left field seats to put the Dodgers ahead 5–4. The Padres had all of its studs lined up to try and grab the equalizer in the top of the ninth.
It ended with Manny Machado striking out lefty Alex Vesia after Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez both popped out to Freeman at first base. The three most paid players in the lineup, Tatis, Machado, and Bogaerts, went 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts for the day, while the billion-dollar trio of Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freeman went 3-for-11 with two home runs and four RBI.
The fact that Jackson Merrill quit after two at-bats due to an ankle problem made the day much more difficult. In the upcoming days, he will undergo another evaluation. The Padres will host a seven-game homestand at Petco Park, beginning Monday against the Giants and concluding with a three-game set against the same Dodgers the following weekend, if you want to play the role of eternal optimist.
