The All-Star break couldn’t come soon enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they closed out the first half with one of their worst series’ of the season, dropping three of four to the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
Sunday’s series finale was a lot like the previous two games with the Dodgers’ offense staying relatively quiet and the Padres breaking through for some runs to earn a 5-3 victory.
It did not take long for the Padres to get on the scoreboard in this one. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a leadoff home run off Dodgers starter Ross Stripling to put his team out in front just seconds into the game.
The home run ball really hurt the Dodgers on Sunday as Stripling also served up a solo shot to Manuel Margot in the second inning.
After a couple of unfortunate plays in the fifth inning that marked the end of Stripling’s day, Pedro Baez came in looking to escape a two-runner on, one-out jam. Unfortunately, he was not able to do that without some damage being done. Tatis hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot to break the game open for San Diego.
The Dodgers attempted to chip away from there as Justin Turner hit a solo home run off Padres starter Joey Lucchesi in the sixth inning. Max Muncy also previously homered in the second inning, so their deficit was 5-2.
Padres manager Andy Green stuck with his starter in the seventh and the Dodgers were able to get to him. Edwin Rios hit a pinch-hit double and then quickly scored on an RBI single by knock Lucchesi out of the game.
That was it for the Dodgers in the seventh though, and while the bullpen held the Padres scoreless for the rest of the game, there was no comeback to be had.
The Dodgers dropped three straight going into the All-Star break, but still hold a 13.5-game division lead and the best record in baseball at 60-32 after the completion of the first half.
