The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen could not hold a sizable lead against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, resulting in an extra-innings loss and the club dropping their first series of the season.
San Diego at one point trailed 7-1 but made up the deficit by scoring two runs each in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. An Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly in the 11th inning proved to be the difference-maker.
Hosmer believes the Padres sent a message to the defending World Series champions with their victory on national television and by taking four of the first seven head-to-head meetings, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“I think we certainly made a statement,” Hosmer said. “The whole baseball world was locked into our series. I think they see we can compete with these guys. That’s the statement we made — that we’re going to come with everything we’ve got and we’re going to fight these guys to the end. We respect what they’ve done, we respect who they are, but we’re certainly not going to back down from them. We’re going to give them our best shot every single time, and that’s the statement we mad this series.”
Similar to their first matchup at Petco Park, the Dodgers’ weekend series with the Padres was packed with excitement and intensity.
The matchup had a playoff-like feel, with three of the four contests being decided by one run. L.A is now 3-4 in seven games against San Diego Padres this season, with 12 more still to come.
The teams will next meet for a three-game series at Petco Park on June 21-23.
Roberts: Dodgers ‘didn’t play clean baseball’
One bright spot from Sunday’s loss was another strong performance by Dustin May. He allowed just one run on two hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts in six innings pitched.
Despite the effort, the Dodgers ultimately could not salvage a series split. “We just didn’t play good baseball. We didn’t play clean baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his club’s 8-7 loss.
“We gave up runs late. Dustin had a fantastic outing and we didn’t pitch well at the backend of the game.”
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