The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres met Tuesday night in the second of their three-game Opening Series to the 2016 regular season. Los Angeles extended their winning streak against San Diego to seven games with Monday’s shutout victory.
Facing a Dodgers lineup that was hardly unchanged from Opening Day, James Shields struck out Chase Utley to start the game. Corey Seager dropped a base hit into left field, but the inning came to an end immediately after as Alexei Ramirez made a terrific stop to initiate a double play.
Cory Spangenberg reached in the bottom of the first on an infield single, but Scott Kazmir kept the Padres off the board by retiring the next two batters faced. Shields walked Yasiel Puig, who later advanced to second base with two outs in second inning on a wild pitch.
That’s as far as he reached, with Joc Pederson striking out to end the inning. Kazmir struck out Derek Norris in the bottom of the second for his first regular-season strikeout with the Dodgers. The southpaw then made quick work of Yangervis Solarte and Ramirez.
Both pitchers retired the respective sides in order in the third inning. Seager improved to 2-for-2 on the night by hitting a chopper up the middle that carried into center field for a leadoff single in the fourth.
Matt Kemp robbed Justin Turner of at least a double and a potential RBI by making a diving catch in right field despite running a less-than-optimal route. Padres outfielders continued to have trouble as Jay misread a ball of Adrian Gonzalez’s bat, resulting in a double for the Dodgers first baseman.
Puig then cleared the bases with a two-run triple that carried well over Jay’s head. The triple was Puig’s second in as many games.
CONTINUE READING: Scott Kazmir retires 17 consecutive batters; Pedro Baez, Chris Hatcher and Kenley Jansen shut the door
