The Padres lost a tough game to the Dodgers 3-2 in LA on Friday night. The Padres went with an unconventional pitching strategy after Friday's originally scheduled starter Michael King was placed on the IL. Wandy Peralta was used as an opener, and retired the top of the Dodgers' lineup in order in the 1st inning. Ramon Laureano's solo homer in the 2nd inning gave the Padres an early 1-0 lead. Peralta returned to face left-handed cleanup hitter Freddy Freeman in the 2nd inning, and struck him out, retiring all four hitters he faced before being lifted for bulk reliever Randy Vasquez.
Vasquez was making his first appearance since being sent to Triple-A following the trade deadline, and pitched fairly well. He ran into trouble in the 3rd inning, allowing three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. He then got Shohei Ohtani to ground out into an RBI-fielder's choice and Mookie Betts to hit an RBI-sac fly, before getting out of the inning when Ohtani was caught stealing. Considering he was in a bases loaded no out situation facing the top of the Dodgers' order, escaping with only two runs scored was a big success for Vasquez.
The Padres' bats were pretty quiet on Friday night, mustering just four hits. They had their best opportunity to get back in the game in the top of the 8th inning, when Jose Iglesias and Jake Cronenworth were each hit by a pitch from Alex Vesia, putting two men on with no outs while trailing 3-1. After Freddy Fermin advanced both runners with a sac-bunt, Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Luis Arraez hit a deep sacrifice fly to bring in a run, but Manny Machado then popped out for the final out of the inning with the Padres still trailing 3-2. Mike Shildt opted to bring in Mason Miller to face the top of LA's lineup despite trailing by a run, and he pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two punchouts. Jackson Merrill was able to reach base in the bottom of the 9th on a single to center field to put the tying run on base, but the Padres were unable to bring him in, as the Dodgers held on for a 3-2 win. Dylan Cease will face Blake Snell on Saturday.
You can watch the Jamul Casino Resort Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Mike Shildt's postgame press conference.
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