If there is such a thing as a dress rehearsal in October, this is it.
A rivalry series between the top two teams in the National League West. A division title is on the line. A possible postseason preview between the winningest baseball team and the one that played the best in the second half of the season.
For an exhibition event at the end of September, the stakes at Dodger Stadium this week could hardly be higher. And the Dodgers could hardly have been weaker in their 2-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night to open the series.
Right up to the last round of batting.
After eight innings of wasted opportunities and helpless baserunners, the Dodgers took a final gut punch in the ninth inning when Miguel Rojas hit a ground ball into a game-winning triple play that silenced the crowd – all while Shohei Ohtani was on the line for a potential game-winning run.
It was the latest humiliation in the Dodgers’ eighth loss to the Padres in 11 games, a setback that cut the team’s lead in the division to two games. If they don’t turn things around over the next two nights, that gap could disappear by the end of the week. And if they end up with a tight grip on the division, an already complicated path to the postseason could become even more daunting.
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The Padres – who clinched a playoff spot and improved their record since the All-Star break to 41-17, the best record in the major leagues – were better in virtually every way.
On the mound, San Diego starter Michael King struck out Dodgers rookie Landon Knack. While King allowed just one unearned run in five innings, Knack was out-scored in a four-inning game that yielded four runs; a concerning result for an unproven pitcher who will likely start in the postseason.
The Padres (91-66) were also the undisputed better choice at the plate, scoring runs again and again with a performance of eight hits, while the Dodgers (93-64) left seven men on base and scored two of ten runs with runners in scoring position.
Most importantly, the Padres played cleaner and – continuing a trend that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had highlighted before this series – seemingly with more intensity.
Their only error came in the bottom half of the first inning, when shortstop Xander Bogaerts threw a ball too high on a throw to first base, allowing Ohtani to score from second base (Ohtani opened the inning with a double, breaking a Dodgers record with his 95th extra-base hit).
From then on, it was the Dodgers who made one sloppy mistake after another.
The first inning ended with a failed double steal, missing the chance to extend a 1-0 lead with runners on the corners.
In the second inning, Mookie Betts misfired with the bases loaded and went down when he hit a sweeper well outside the zone.
In the third, a one-walk by Teoscar Hernández was quickly cancelled out when he was doubled off on a lineout by Max Muncy.
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Half an inning later, the Padres turned a 2-1 lead they had taken on Jake Cronenworth’s second-inning home run into a 4-1 advantage by wearing down Knack with a 39-pitch, three-hit rally.
The Dodgers did little to pose a threat the rest of the way.
Switch-hitter Tommy Edman was eliminated with two bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning after Padres manager Mike Shildt called up right-hander Jeremiah Estrada to switch Edman to left, where he only had a .200 batting average.
In the seventh inning, Rojas hit a double play and Ohtani was eliminated with an unfortunate hit against Padres left-hander Tanner Scott.
After the Dodgers allowed a two-out double by Hernández in the eighth inning, the game ended with a stunning sequence in the ninth inning when Rojas hit a ground ball to third base that the Padres turned into a triple play.
Now the Dodgers need to win two games in a row to secure the division title at home and at least one win to ensure they are still alone in first place heading into the final weekend of the season.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
