Matt Sauer was ineffective and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense struggled in an 11-1 loss to the San Diego Padres, setting up a series rubber match on Wednesday.
Lou Trivino started and tossed a scoreless inning before Sauer took over, but things started to go poorly in the third inning. Sauer walked Fernando Tatis Jr. and then allowed a double to Luis Arraez that gave the Padres a 1-0 lead.
Manny Machado followed with an RBI single and Jackson Merrill tripled to put the Padres up 3-0 before the third inning game to an end.
San Diego added on in the fourth after loading the bases with two singles and a hit by pitch, scoring on a double play off the bat of Martín Maldonado. Machado also ended up driving in another run in the fifth inning following a double from Arraez to give the Padres a 5-0 lead.
The Dodgers waved the white flag in the sixth inning, taking Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández out of the game. Just after that, Maldonado homered to extend the Padres’ lead, and Machado drove in another run following singles from Tatis and Arraez to put San Diego up by seven.
But it didn’t stop there as Merrill walked and Bogaerts singled home two more on Sauer’s 111th pitch of the game. That concluded the outing for Sauer, who allowed nine runs on 13 hits over 4.2 innings with six strikeouts and three walks.
The Dodgers then turned to Kiké Hernández to pitch, entering in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and getting out of the inning with a fly out.
Hernández remained in the game in the seventh and allowed two more runs. He also tossed the eighth and threw a scoreless frame, making him the second-most effective pitcher of the game for the Dodgers.
Dodgers offense struggles against Padres
Just one day after scoring eight runs in a victory, the Dodgers offense couldn’t produce anything against the Padres. Dylan Cease tossed seven innings while allowing just three hits and adding 11 strikeouts to five walks.
The Dodgers didn’t have many scoring opportunities with just two runners that reached second base against Cease and no extra-base hits.
They finally put another runner in scoring position in the eighth inning when the Padres went to their bullpen, and their only run of the game was driven in by Michael Conforto with a single.
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