SAN DIEGO –– The Padres own the worst batting average in the majors. Their starting rotation is being held together by Elmer’s glue and duct tape. And they have the run differential of, at best, a .500 ball club.
After a 1-0 win over the Dodgers on Monday night, they are also in first place in the National League West.
If you’ve been watching from afar, and wondering exactly how the Padres (29-18) are winning so much with their best two players batting a combined .207 and most of their best pitchers on the injured list, then Monday’s series-opener provided a telling answer.
They’ve found ways to limit runs, riding a scoreless seven-inning start from Michael King on Monday (including a season-high nine strikeouts for him).
They’ve gotten unexpected contributions from others in their lineup, including a first-inning homer from Miguel Andujar off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only blemish in Yamamoto’s seven-inning, eight-strikeout start).
And once they’ve taken leads, they simply do not relinquish them, with superstar closer (and potential Cy Young candidate) Mason Miller picking up his 15th save in a scoreless ninth inning.
“When they’re ahead in the seventh inning, they don’t lose,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“It’s hard to score against Mason Miller,” first baseman Freddie Freeman added.
Miller did not make life easy for himself in his save situation. He missed with eight of his first nine pitches, issuing two walks in a game for only the second time this year.
But on a night of missed chances for the Dodgers (29-19) –– who had a runner in scoring position in each of their last four trips to the plate –– they let another one go by the wayside. Will Smith flied out. Max Muncy took a called third strike. And Andy Pages hit a grounder to third that ended the game, handing the Padres the kind of win they’ve been getting all year.
What it means
Standings might not matter much at this point in the year.
But if the first seven weeks of this season have been any indication, the Padres figure to be a thorn in the Dodgers’ side once again.
The last two years, the Padres have taken the division race down to the final weeks of the season. Last year, they held first place as late as Aug. 23, pushing the defending champions all the way to the end.
Big picture, such competition can be good for the Dodgers.
But right now, it’s only underscoring their uneven start to the campaign.
After appearing to turn a corner during a recent five-game winning streak, their lineup came back to earth on Monday, striking out 10 times against King and company while going 0-for-7 with a runner in scoring position.
Who’s hot
It certainly wasn’t a highlight night for Shohei Ohtani. But he continued to improve his early-season numbers by reaching base three times in a 2-for-3 performance.
Coming off a big series against the Angels over the weekend, when he finally began to emerge from a month-long slump, Ohtani drew a walk in the fourth inning, then followed a two-out single in the sixth from Hyeseong Kim with a swinging bunt that led to an errant throw, putting runners on the corners.
A similar sequence played out in the eighth, when Ohtani followed Kim’s two-out walk with a single off right-handed reliever Jason Adam (and, curiously, not warmed-up left-hander Adrian Morejon in the bullpen).
Alas, on both occasions, Betts made an out behind him to end each inning.
It was all part of the Dodgers’ frustrating night at the plate.
Who’s not
The Dodgers’ baserunning, which made King’s life easier multiple times on Monday.
Through the game’s first five innings, the only two Dodgers players to reach base (Betts after a first-inning single and Ohtani after a fourth-inning walk) were both gunned down by catcher Rodolfo Durán while trying to steal second.
Then in the sixth, they didn’t take advantage of a chance to capitalize on a Padres defensive mistake.
On Ohtani’s swinging bunt, Durán’s throw to first base went up the line and allowed Kim to scurry all the way to third. Once he got there, however, third base coach Dino Ebel threw up a late stop sign –– just as second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. was struggling to corral the ball in shallow right.
Roberts didn’t second-guess the decision afterward, pointing to the tricky timing of the sequence.
“You don’t know that he’s not going to come up with it clean,” he noted.
However, he also added, “It’s one of those that, yeah, it’s unfortunate. Two outs. If we know something different, he probably would have done something different. But that’s a hard one.”
Up next
The Dodgers will try to even this rivalry series on Tuesday, when Emmet Sheehan (3-1, 4.54 ERA) faces off against Griffin Canning (0-2, 10.64 ERA).
