Paddack, Defense Not Sharp as Padres Fall to Dodgers 6-3
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles, California
The pitching matchup between rookie phenom Chris Paddack and perennial Cy Young Award candidate Clayton Kershaw was hyped up all day by the national media.
The actual game decided to be something else.
First, Franmil Reyes continued to hit Kershaw well as he launched a solo home run, his team-leading 12th, giving the Friars an early 1-0 lead.
Paddack got through the first two innings with nary a scratch, without allowing a hit.
Then in the third, the Dodgers took advantage of two rare mistakes. First, Manny Machado overthrew first base, allowing Austin Barnes to reach base. Then Joc Pederson took advantage of a rare Paddack mistake and sent it over the wall, giving Los Angeles a 2-1 lead.
The Dodgers were not done adding, as Max Muncy walked ahead of a Cody Bellinger home run, extending the Dodgers lead to 4-1.
From that point, it was clear Paddack was not on his A-game. The Dodgers made hard contact throughout the night. Paddack, of course, is a rookie after all, pitching in just his eighth career game above the Double-A level. He is bound to have an off night here and there, even the greats do.
Paddack would not get out of the fifth inning, allowing six runs, although just three of them were earned, with three strikeouts and a walk through 4 ⅔ innings.
Machado made up for his error in the top of the fourth inning as he destroyed a Kershaw pitch that nearly hit the awning of the pavilion in left field, his second home run off of Kershaw this season. At the time, that cut the Dodgers lead to 4-3.
Manny Machado moonshot? MANNY MACHADO MOONSHOT ???#FriarFaithful | @Padres | @MLBONFOX pic.twitter.com/u6PSsTBpw3
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) May 15, 2019
The Dodgers extended their lead by getting a run in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, making it 6-3.
From there, it was a bullpen game for both sides. Robbie Erlin took over for Paddack in the fifth and ended up pitching 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball with one strikeout.
Adam Warren pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep San Diego within striking distance in the ninth inning, still down by three.
Machado doubled in the ninth inning off of closer Kenley Jansen, giving him two extra-base hits on the day and three hits total. He extended his hitting streak to seven games, with seven hits in his last three games.
However, Jansen locked it down and got the save for the Dodgers, giving L.A. the 6-3 win.
The Padres dropped to 22-20 and will try to earn a series split in this brief two-game series on Wednesday night when Matt Strahm takes the hill against Kenta Maeda.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.
Way too many holes in our offense. Kinzler, Hedges, and Myers can not hit BP fast balls. Urias should be playing second-base , and hopefully Tatis will be back soon. I think everyone understands why Preller was trying to sign Realmutto this past off-season because both Hedges and Mejia can’t hit Major League pitching.