The stakes were different. But the scene felt the same.
Just like last October, when their record-breaking season ended after just four playoff games, the Dodgers struggled in all areas on Friday night at Petco Park.
They couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position.
They got a choppy outing from their starter.
And in their first meeting since last year’s National League Division Series, they were foiled by the San Diego Padres once again, losing 5-2 in the opening game of a highly-anticipated weekend series before a raucous crowd of 45,116.
Last time they were in San Diego, the Dodgers were somber and soaked, enraged and embarrassed, humbled and hurt.
A 2022 team that had won 111 games, owned the best record in baseball, and entered the playoffs with sky-high expectations was instead immediately cut down, eliminated in Game 4 of the NLDS on a rainy night at the Gaslamp Quarter.
Six months later, the Dodgers tried not to relive those memories in the lead-up to their first renewal of the rivalry since then.
They have a new-look team this year, and a reset list of expectations.
A scar will always remain from their NLDS failure last fall. But by now, the wound has scabbed over. The sting has dissipated.
“Obviously it sort of takes us back to last year and how it ended,” manager Dave Roberts said on Friday afternoon, sitting in the visitors dugout for the first time since the Dodgers elimination in a rain-soaked Game 4 last year.
“I think we had a lot of time to think about how the season ended and what we needed to get better at,” he added. “Right now, we feel good about how we’re playing. So I don’t know if there’s any extra motivation. I still think we’re trying to do whatever we can to win a ballgame tonight.”
Dodgers baserunner Will Smith slides into home past Padres catcher Austin Nola in the seventh inning Friday.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
However, in their first of 13 meetings with the Padres (18-15) this year, the Dodgers (19-14) couldn’t do that either.
They took a first-inning lead after Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk, Freddie Freeman doubled and Max Muncy hit a run-scoring grounder. But they squandered a series of golden opportunities from there.
Freeman was left stranded at third in the first. Miguel Vargas got doubled off at third in the second, caught breaking toward home plate on a sharp lineout moments after hitting a triple.
And overall, on a night Padres starter Yu Darvish pitched 62/3 strong innings, the Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, harkening back to their five-for-34 mark in such situations during last year’s playoff series.
Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, labored through a four-run, 42/3-inning start — his shortest of the season after being named pitcher of the month in April.
The left-hander battled poor command, doubling his season walk total by issuing five to the Padres star-studded lineup. Fernando Tatis Jr. twice took him deep, as well, driving an elevated fastball for a solo blast in the third inning before jumping on a hanging slider for a go-ahead two-run shot in the fifth.
Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the third inning Friday.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Kershaw wouldn’t escape the latter inning.
Manny Machado and Juan Soto followed with a pair of singles. Ha-Seong Kim plated another run on a bases-loaded ground ball Miguel Rojas knocked at shortstop with an impressive diving effort, but couldn’t convert for an out.
As Kershaw walked off the mound, the Petco Park crowd was back in familiar form. On their feet. In a fever pitch. Deliriously cheering their club’s newfound supremacy over their Southern California rival.
“I think as a whole we know what we’re capable of, we know what kind of ballclub we have,” Roberts said pregame, when asked about the prevalence of pundits picking the Padres over the Dodgers for the division crown this season. “But if you don’t like it, you’ve got to play better. If we feel slighted, then we’ve got to play better.”
Short hops
Muncy left the game at the start of the ninth inning. While the reason for his departure wasn’t immediately clear, the SportsNet LA broadcast said the third baseman was sick. …Prior to the game, rookie right-hander Gavin Stone was sent back to the minors, two days after he made his major league debut in a four-inning, five-run start. Reliever Wander Suero was called up in his place. … J.D. Martinez (back) started taking swings again on Friday. Roberts said the Dodgers are hopeful he could return by Tuesday or Wednesday. …Trayce Thompson is back at full strength after missing a couple of games this last week with an illness. Roberts said he will start on Saturday. … Roberts will be gone for Saturday’s game to attend his son’s college graduation from Loyola Marymount. Bench coach Danny Lehmann will be acting manager in his place.
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