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Padres Hand the Dodgers, their First Loss of the Season

By Aaron Valencia

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After a 30-minute weather delay, the Padres and Dodgers opened up, game two of the opening series of the 2015 season.

The Dodgers entered last night’s game, with a dramatic win over the Padres on opening day, and again had another dramatic game last night, until things got out of hand.

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With great pitching performances from Zack Greinke and Tyson Ross, and excellent hitting from both teams, it was an all around great game.

Zach Greinke started the game early on and had a rough start. With two outs in the first inning, Matt Kemp singled to center, and on the third pitch, Justin Upton floated a line-up to left field. Crawford went for a diving catch and mistakenly timed the ball, missing it completely. With nobody behind Crawford, Upton easily made it to third for a triple, and Kemp without a sweat made it to home, to take a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers.

Apr 7, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder

Carl Crawford

(3) is unable to catch the ball during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Once Greinke’s rough start ended, Greinke turned his game around allowing only Alexi Amarista to get on base in the second inning, after an unexpected fielding error from 4-time golden glove shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

Besides, this little hiccup, Greinke had no trouble allowing anyone get on a base, striking out two and walking one.

Zach Greinke stats: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Tyson Ross had a great start, retiring his first five batters. Until the bottom of the second inning, when things started to look ugly for Ross. Crawford doubled to center, and Juan Uribe walked, setting up a great scoring scenario for Joc Pederson, but Pederson flied out to center, to end the inning.

Ross then sailed through his next 11 batters, until things started to turn the Dodgers way. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Yasiel Puig got a leadoff double to left field, which was followed by a double by Adrian Gonzalez, to bring the game to a 1-1 tie. The tie didn’t last that long, as Howie Kendrick singled a sharp ground ball in between Ross’s legs, underneath a diving Amarista, to reach center field, giving the Dodgers the lead, 2-1.

Tyson Ross stats: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

At the end of six innings, the Padres and Dodgers went to their bullpens, which is where things started to get interesting.

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    • In the top of the seventh inning, Yonder Alonso and Clint Barmes both singled, to give the Padres men on first and second base. With two outs in the inning, Yangervis Solarte hits a catchable fly ball to shallow left field, to be inaccurately judged by Jimmy Rollins, who missed the ball by a few inches. With Jimmy Rollins’ second error of the game, lead to Yonder Alonso, tying the game at two.

    In the top of the eighth inning, Derek Norris leadoff the inning with a single to left field, Matt Kemp grounded out to first base, putting Norris on second base. With Justin Upton having a great outing against Greinke, the Dodgers intentionally walked Upton. Will Middlebooks then flied out to right, moving Norris from second base to third base. Yonder Alonso, then hit a line drive single to left field, scoring Norris from third, giving the Padres the lead, 3-2. Jedd Gyorko followed up with a pop out to second, leaving two men stranded on first and second base.

    Apr 7, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman

    Adrian Gonzalez

    (23) hits a solo home run during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. San Diego Padres win 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

    The Dodgers retaliated back in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a tying home run blasted to right field by Adrian Gonzalez, with only one out. Howie Kendrick lined out to second base, Yasmani Grandal was walked, and Carl Crawford grounded into a force out, at second base.

    In the top of the ninth inning, the Dodgers turned to their current closer, Chris Hatcher, since Kenley Jansen is on the 15-day DL

    Now, I’m not going to go in detail about the top of the ninth inning, because it was really long and had horrifying moments for Dodger fans to know that the game was out of reach. The Padres went through nine batters, to score four runs, increasing their lead to, 7-3.

    With the Padres closer, Crain Kimbrel taking over pitching duties, it was a pretty secure win for the Padres, as Kimbrel is a monster at closing out games. Kimbrel struck out the entire side for the Dodgers.

    Winning Pitcher: Joaquin Benoit

    Losing Pitcher: Chris Hatcher

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