Dodgers Lit Up by the Padres in San Diego
The Los Angeles Dodgers took on the San Diego Padres for game two of their highly anticipated series. The two teams played an intense extra-inning game in game one, which saw the Dodgers steal the opening game. It was going to be another bullpen game for Los Angeles, with the starting pitching staff continuing to battle injuries. San Diego would be giving the starting nod to Dylan Cease, who has a career 1-1 record with an ERA of 2.61 and 28 strikeouts in four appearances versus the Dodgers in the regular season.
Cease set the Dodgers down in order in the top of the first, although Freddie Freeman nearly put the Dodgers on board first, but Jackson Merrill put his Superman cape on and brought back the potential home run. Los Angeles trotted out Lou Trivino to get the bullpen game started, and he delivered outside of a lead-off walk to Fernando Tatis Jr., even picking off Tatis Jr. at second base for his 24th career pickoff. Trivino became the 14th pitcher to start a game for the Dodgers this season, the most in Major League Baseball. After another quiet inning for the Dodgers’ offense, it was time for Matt Sauer to take over for Los Angeles and be the innings-eater. Sauer is not new to these kinds of appearances, as he had an impressive appearance against the Miami Marlins, where he went five innings of one-run ball in a blowout victory.
Sauer dealt a clean inning, giving the Dodgers another prime opportunity to strike first. Los Angeles proceeded to load up the bases, and with two outs, Teoscar Hernández, who already had a base knock in his first appearance, looked to get some runs across. Fate did not have as Hernández struck out swinging to close out the inning. One thing to note is the struggles Hernández has endured since coming back from the IL on May 19th; he is batting .164 with 12 hits, a homer run, 10 RBIs, and 11 runs scored in 19 games. He stranded two more base runners a couple of innings later as his struggles at the plate continued.
The Padres carry a high-octane offense, and after scoring seven runs the night before, even in a loss, the bats eventually picked up in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, San Diego scored three runs after four consecutive batters reached base. In the blink of an eye, it was 3-0 Padres. Los Angeles needed to find a rhythm against Cease, or else it was going to be a long night.
Throughout the rest of this one, Cease dominated the Dodgers, going seven innings, striking out 11, allowing just three hits, and walking five. It was the complete opposite for Sauer, as the Padres took full advantage of the bullpen game. Sauer was able to get to the sixth inning but could not finish out the inning. His final stat line consisted of 4.2 innings pitched, six strikeouts, nine runs, and 13 hits allowed. Once that ninth run was scored, Sauer was quickly relieved for Kiké Hernández. One final note on this one is that Sauer’s 111 pitches were the most by a reliever since 2023.
The Padres tacked on two merciful runs on Hernández to make it 11-0 before the Dodgers salvaged a shutout in the top of the eighth via a Michael Conforto RBI single. The decision to stick Hernández in the sixth inning told everyone what they needed to know about this game as Los Angeles went down quietly with their final opportunity to end a pretty forgetful game. The two teams will meet again in an afternoon rubber match to decide who grabs the first series of the year between the two bitter rivals. Los Angeles will trot out Justin Wrobleski, while the Padres will give the start to Randy Vasquez.
