Padres fall to Dodgers as offense goes cold once again
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres offense went missing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night at Petco Park.
It took two weeks for the first matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. After a 2021 season full of heated games against one another, the 2022 edition of the Southern California showdown finally began.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the Padres’ favor as they lost on Friday night at Petco Park, 6-1.
Nick Martinez got the start for San Diego and began with another solid outing. Through the first four innings, Martinez held the Dodgers scoreless and the Padres held on to a 1-0 lead after Wil Myers hit into a fielder’s choice in the second frame, scoring Jurickson Profar.
But, the fifth inning wasn’t so kind for Martinez. He gave up a solo home run to Mookie Betts — his first of the year–then got the next two batters out.
Mookie Betts is good at baseball. pic.twitter.com/i2pGD0M4DZ
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) April 23, 2022
But, Max Muncy hit a high, towering shot to right field which just left the ballpark, and that would be the last pitch Martinez threw on the evening. Manager Bob Melvin mentioned that he was hoping Martinez would make it through five frames.
“I was trying to get him through the fifth inning … It ended up being another run.”
Betts would double down on home runs, hitting another one in the top of the ninth off of Craig Stammen to make it a 6-1 ballgame. All in all, it was a frustrating evening for the Padres, and the strike zone once again was inconsistent.
When asked about the issues with the calls, Melvin sidestepped the question with a rather smart answer.
“You guys watched the game too … Sometimes there’s little different zones. Tonight, we had a problem with it at times, but it won’t be the last time.”
The San Diego bullpen got beat up pretty badly on Friday evening. Nabil Crismatt gave up one run in relief of Martinez, then Tim Hill came in and coughed up a pair of runs on three hits without recording a single out.
After a nice start to the year for Martinez, he finished Friday’s outing with four hits, two runs, and five walks through 4.2 innings while tossing 102 pitches.
Hitters vs. Nick Martinez with no one in scoring position: 13-for-31 (.419)
Hitters vs. Nick Martinez with RISP: 1-for-18 (.055), 3 GIDP
Now, those are obviously some ridiculously small samples, but credit to Martinez for not wilting. https://t.co/PunfIfpsjI
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 23, 2022
On the other side, Julio Urias was dominant as usual, hurling five innings of two-hit baseball while striking out six Friars and giving up just one run — on the Myers’ fielder’s choice.
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The Padres’ bats were nowhere to be found after a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. They mustered up just four hits on the evening, and Eric Hosmer accounted for half of those, including the only extra-base hit of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The story of 2022 for San Diego has been the strong pitching and the mediocre performance by the offense, and surely the bats need to awaken sooner than later.
Final: Dodgers 6, Padres 1
Lots of holes in the Padres lineup right now, and they were exposed tonight. They're getting big contributions from Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, who have combined to hit .345. The rest of the SD offense, however, is hitting just .181.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 23, 2022
That needs to change, and quickly.
The Padres will aim to bounce back against the Dodgers on Saturday night, with Yu Darvish going against Tyler Anderson at 5:40 PST in downtown San Diego.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.