The Los Angeles Dodgers entered their series against the San Diego Padres on a five-game winning streak and a slight lead in the National League West division race.
But the Padres both ended the Dodgers’ winning streak and took the lead back in the NL West by half a game. It now sets up a must-win for the Dodgers on Tuesday if they wish to avoid losing the series, or else they’ll be looking to avoid the sweep on Wednesday.
Padres 1, Dodgers 0: key takeaways
Dodgers offense shut down by Michael King & Padres
The Dodgers only tallied six base runners against Michael King and were shut down by the right-hander for seven innings. He struck them out nine times and faced the minimum through his first six innings.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Dodgers had a true chance to score with Hyeseong Kim on third base, but Mookie Betts popped out to end the inning.
The Dodgers could have possibly scored when Shohei Ohtani reached on a single and the Padres threw the ball away, but Kim was held up at third by Dino Ebel. It was likely the right decision, but it also became a coin flip as Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t field the ball cleanly.
The Dodgers were caught stealing twice earlier in the game, and Teoscar Hernández grounded into a double play, which helped King face the minimum early on.
The Dodgers again put runners at the corners in the eighth inning, this time against Jason Adam, with Kim taking a walk and Ohtani singling, but Betts left them stranded for the second time as he grounded out.
Mason Miller walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning, but still kept the Dodgers off the board as Will Smith flied out, Max Muncy struck out looking and Andy Pages grounded out.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto bounces back
Yoshibnobu Yamamoto also pitched seven excellent innings, but unfortunately, he made one mistake that cost him and the Dodgers. Yamamoto allowed just one run on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.
The one hit happened to be a home run in the first inning off the bat of Miguel Andujar on a splitter that caught too much of the plate.
From there, Yamamoto kept the Padres off the board and mostly off the bases for the next 6.2 innings.
This was the first start Yamamoto has allowed fewer than three runs since April 14, or four consecutive starts, including his last start of allowing five runs.
Dodgers take rare loss
This was the first game since Sept. 4, 1982, in which the Dodgers lost when the only run they allowed was a home run in the first inning.
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