The Los Angeles Dodgers' batting order could not find consistency against the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers continued to struggle against their in-state rivals, the San Diego Padres, on Thursday with a 4-2 series-concluding loss at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium.
With the loss, the Dodgers are now three games behind the 100-win Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in baseball, and they will need to sweep the San Francisco Giants to reach 100 wins themselves. Let’s get into how they lost on Thursday:
A defensive battle
For most of the game, it was a battle of pitching and defensive endurance for both clubs.
The Dodgers gave the starting nod to right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who was brilliant for most of the game. On the Padres’ side, veteran Nick Pivetta took the hill.
From the first inning through the fifth, Glasnow and Pivetta were not letting anything come easy. Heading into the top of the sixth, Glasnow had nine strikeouts, but the Padres ended up breaking through against him and taking a 1-0 lead after he gave up back-to-back singles before a sacrifice fly RBI.
Still, Glasnow struck out two batters in the frame. However, after he allowed a walk and a double in the top of the seventh, his evening was over.
Glasnow finished the evening with 11 strikeouts, three hits, three earned runs and two walks over 6.1 innings. Justin Wrobleski replaced him in relief and also struggled — allowing three RBI singles that gave San Diego a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Pivetta kept Los Angeles’ batting order struggling for 4.2 innings in which he struck out seven batters and allowed four hits and one walk in a shutout effort.
Too little, too late
The Dodgers tried to mount a response to the runs put on them in the sixth and seventh innings, but they failed to complete the game of catch-up.
In the bottom of the eighth, Mookie Betts opened with a walk, and Freddie Freeman followed with a single that advanced Betts to third. Despite the momentum boost, Teoscar Hernandez struck out and Kyle Tucker flew out.
Betts scored on a balk, but the Dodgers could have gotten much more out of the inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI double to make it 4-2, but that was all they could muster.
It was a bad day at the plate for Los Angeles’ batting order. Overall, its hitters struck out 12 times and logged only seven hits in 35 at-bats.
The Dodgers ended their regular season slate of games at home with a loss, but they still have a chance to go into San Francisco and take care of business against a struggling Giants team to finish the season on the right foot before October.
