The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t muster much against Blake Snell, but Chris Taylor’s home run was enough in a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
Snell became the latest left-handed pitcher to exploit the Dodgers lineup as he retired the first 11 batters faced. That streak was snapped by Will Smith working a two-out walk to keep the fourth inning alive.
Taylor took advantage by lifting a two-run homer to the second deck in left field. The long ball was another encouraging sign for Taylor as he’s swung the bat well of late after a subpar start to the season.
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Taylor’s two-run home run was all they managed off Snell as he still got through six innings with the one hit allowed.
Working in the Dodgers’ favor was Dustin May outdueling Snell by turning in six scoreless innings. May’s start came on two extra days of rest as L.A. juggled their rotation for the weekend series at Petco Park.
May held the Padres to three hits and only issued one walk while he also matched a season high with six strikeouts.
The Dodgers had an opportunity to add onto their lead in the eighth inning but left the bases loaded.
That nearly cost them as Trayce Thompson misplayed a leadoff single in the bottom of the eight, resulting in a double for Brett Sullivan. Fernando Tatís Jr. followed that with an RBI double that cut the Dodgers lead in half.
Tatís then advanced 90 feet on a groundout to third base, taking advantage of a lackadaisical effort by Taylor to look him back to second before throwing across the diamond. Brusdar Graterol then picked up Thompson and Taylor by retiring Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts to escape the inning.
Evan Phillips stranded a one-out walk in the ninth to convert his fourth save of the season.
Danny Lehmann was acting Dodgers manager
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was not with the team on Saturday as he attended his son Cole’s graduation from Loyola Marymount University.
Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann filled in as interim manager for the first time in his career. The Dodgers experienced a similar situation last year when Roberts attended Emme’s, his daughter, high school graduation, but it was then-bench coach Bob Geren who filled in.
Geren was also acting manager in 2019 when Roberts stepped away for his son’s high school graduation.
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