The Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up the first half of regular season play on Sunday with a 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
It marked the Dodgers’ third consecutive loss to their National League West rival after coming away with a win in the series opener on Thursday. They nonetheless enter the All-Star break with a Major League-best 60-32 record and 13.5-game lead in the division.
Fernando Tatis Jr. was largely responsible for the Dodgers dropping a third straight game on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. He led off the contest with a solo home run off Ross Stripling and later provided insurance with a three-run blast against Pedro Baez in the fifth.
“First glance in person, I like the body, I like his energy,” Dave Roberts said of the young Padres shortstop. “Just the way he kind of plays every pitch, it’s fun to watch.
“Your eyes sort of gravitate to him and you want to see what he’s going to do next. Just watching the highlights and video, he’s very astute on the bases, in the batter’s box and playing defense. He’s the whole package.”
Having finished the first half of the regular season on a strong note, Tatis believes the Padres showed the Dodgers a glimpse of what they are capable of, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“We showed what we were capable of, how we’re moving, what we can do,” said Tatis. “So pay attention. It’s going to be interesting.”
While the Padres handed the Dodgers their first series loss at home since April, run differential suggests the four-game matchup was more even than the record might indicate.
Both clubs scored exactly 11 runs in the matchup and each of San Diego’s three wins were by a combined five runs. For perspective, the Dodgers outscored the Padres by four in their lone victory on Thursday.
Regardless, the Padres are taking the series win in stride and believe they are headed in the right direction. The club entered the All-Star break with a 45-45 record and trail the second-place Colorado Rockies by just a half-game in the NL West.
Entering the regular season, Eric Hosmer was confident in the Padres’ chances of challenging the Dodgers in the NL West this season.
Manny Machado echoed similar sentiments and recently bet his $300 million contract to a Dodgers fan that the Padres will win a World Series championship before Los Angeles.
Despite the wide margin separating the two teams in the standings, San Diego has gone 5-4 against Los Angeles in 2019.
