The Los Angeles Dodgers not only played their first night game of the spring on Friday, but they actually played two of them as half the team stayed back at Camelback Ranch to host the San Diego Padres and the other half traveled to Goodyear to face the Cleveland Indians.
In the home game against their division rivals, the Dodgers dropped their second game of the spring, 5-4.
Hyun-Jin Ryu made his second spring start for the Dodgers and he looked sharp. In two shutout innings of work, he allowed just two hits while striking out two on 29 pitches. He then went and finished up with some more pitches in the bullpen.
Kevin Quackenbush replaced Ryu on the mound in the third and struggled to the tune of four hits and three runs. Pedro Baez then replaced him in the fourth and struggled as well.
Baez allowed two solo home runs but rebounded to strike out the other three hitters he faced in his first Cactus League outing of the spring. The home runs allowed the Padres to open up a 5-1 lead.
Scott Alexander and Stetson Allie fared much better in their outings, both tossing a scoreless inning. Alexander needed just six pitches to get three groundouts in his spring debut.
Top pitching prospect Tony Gonsolin then took over on the mound and looked sharped. Ge retired the side with ease on just eight pitches in his first inning, and then got a strikeout and ground out to strand a runner at third in his second inning.
Minor League shortstop Errol Robinson had a solid day at the plate for the Dodgers, hitting a triple and a ground-rule double. He scored and drove in a run.
Max Muncy also drove in a run on an infield single that he took a half-swing on. That cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 5-4 in the fourth inning.
The scoring came to a drastic halt from the fifth inning on as neither team crossed home plate again and the Padres held on for the victory.
