Dodgers Drop First Series of the Season to Padres 4/25/21

Dodgers Drop First Series of the Season to Padres – Game Recap – 4/25/21

In the final game of the series, we finally saw some different pitchers from both sides. May got the start for the Dodgers, and Musgrove got the start for the Padres. Another great pitching matchup set up for Sunday Night Baseball. Dodgers were looking to avoid their first series loss of the season with a win in tonight’s game.  It didn’t go in favor of the Dodgers, who dropped their first series of the season.

The Dodgers scoring started in the second inning when Muncy led off the inning with a walk. They caught a huge break when Taylor hit a ground ball to Tatís, which should’ve been a double-play ball, but Tatís was flat-footed and was charged with the error. A pitch hit Beaty on his back knee to load the bases for Raley, who went down swinging on a slider. Luckily, Barnes would come through and drop a bloop single into right field to drive in the Dodgers’ first run of the game. Unfortunately, May and Betts could not extend the lead leaving the bases loaded to end the inning.

They’d get their chance again in the third when Seager hit his yearly triple to lead off the inning. Turner drove him home with a base hit to left field, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Muncy walked – again – and Musgrove plunked Beaty with a pitch, again, loading the bases once more. But just like the previous inning, the Dodgers could not capitalize. They’d load them once more in the 5th inning. 

The Padres got on the board in the fourth when Tatís hit yet another home run against the Dodgers, making it a 2-1 Dodgers lead. According to Sarah Langs on Twitter, Tatís became the first visiting player with five home runs in a three-game span at Dodger Stadium. The Padres only earned one run against May tonight, their only hit off of him besides a single from Cronenworth in the fifth.

Dustin May came into this game locked in from the start. His curveball was filthy and his sinker consistently hitting 99 on the gun made it one of the tougher pitches for the Padres to keep up with. His previous career-high in strikeouts was eight, and tonight he blew right past that racking up ten on the night. He struck out six batters looking tonight, which is the most for any pitcher this season. May looked like a seasoned veteran tonight, and he’s still only 23 years old. Dustin May’s final line tonight: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO, 1 HR. 

Dodgers Open Up the Game

The Dodgers would open this game up in the sixth after a great inning from the offense. Neuse led the inning off with a pinch-hit home run, and Betts followed him up with a single. Seager singled, and after three straight hits from the Dodgers, Turner flew out to center, but it was deep enough to drive home Mookie. Muncy drew his fourth walk of the night to bring up Taylor, who crushed a ball to center field, giving the Dodgers a 7-1 lead. 

As like every other game against the Padres this season, nothing came easy for the Dodgers. Price took over on the mound in the 7th inning and gave up back-to-back hits. To make matters worse, Neuse booted a ball that could have ended the inning. But instead, this would load the bases for Caratini, who singled, driving in two runs making it 7-3. Price did a great job limiting the damage and got Myers to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Then the eighth inning rolled around, and the Padres weren’t done just yet. Graterol gave up a walk, got the flyout, and then gave up a base hit ending his night. González came into pitch, and Hosmer singled off of him, scoring yet another run. He walked Cronenworth, which put the tying run on base for the speedy Mateo, who hit into a fielder’s choice, beating the throw to first, avoiding the double play, and driving home a run. That cut the Dodgers lead to 7-5. González struck out Profar on a slider in the dirt to end the inning.

The way this series has gone, it shouldn’t be a surprise the ninth inning was the huge disaster we were all hoping to avoid. Nelson took the mound in the 9th and gave up a leadoff single. He got Campusano to fly out before three straight hits from Tatis, Grisham, and Machado tied the game up. He was able to find his composure after walking Hosmer and retired the next two batters keeping the game tied heading to the bottom of the ninth. 

Extra Innings

The game needed extra to find the winner, but after an extremely stressful inning from Nelson in the 10th, the Dodgers got another chance to walk it off. Seager started at second due to the extra-inning rule, and Turner advanced him third. The Padres intentionally walked Muncy and Taylor to face pinch-hitter Clayton Kershaw. Yes, Kershaw came up to bat in the 10th with the bases loaded in a tie game. Unfortunately, it did not go the Dodgers way as Kershaw and Peters went go down swinging to end the inning. Peters swung at ball four that could have ended the game.

Garrett Cleavinger made his Dodgers debut in the 11th.  If not for the runner starting on second, it would’ve been a nice debut from him. But baseball doesn’t work that way, and so here we are. He walked Grisham to start the inning.  The Padres quickly pull off the double steal putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Padres took their first lead of the game on a sac fly from Hosmer, making it 8-7.

Dodgers got their opportunity in the 11th and even got the leadoff man on once again, but it didn’t matter. They couldn’t advance the runner to third.  When you go 3-for-17 with RISP, you aren’t going to win many games, and that’s exactly what the Dodgers did tonight. The Dodgers dropped their first series of the season 8-7.

They’ll try to sparks things on the offensive side tomorrow when they start a new series against the Reds at 7:10 PM PDT.

For more on last night’s game, click here.