In a series that the Padres entered with hope and momentum on their side, the Dodgers flipped the script on them. San Diego dropped the final game of the series on Monday afternoon as Seth Lugo let a 5-run lead slip away courtesy of an 8-run fourth inning for the Dodgers. They would continue to add on off of the Padre bullpen and put the game out of reach as the Padres lost 13-7 and put themselves back at 3 games under .500. They now sit 3.5 games out of a wild-card spot.
Here are three takeaways from a tough loss:
Lugo, Barlow have outings to forget
Seth Lugo, who had pitched 7 innings and allowed just 2 ER in each of his previous two starts, had perhaps his worst start of the season. After the Padres set the tone with 5 runs in the second inning to take a big lead, Lugo would allow a whopping 8 runs in the fourth inning. He allowed a collection of RBI doubles, singles, and home runs. Most significantly, Mookie Betts blasted a grand slam off Lugo that would catapult the Dodgers to an 8-5 lead and erase what was an extremely promising start to the game for them. Lugo would not make it out of the 4th inning, and he brought his ERA on the season to over 4.
As for recent bullpen addition Scott Barlow, his rough series would continue. After allowing 3 runs in 0.2 innings in the series opener against Los Angeles on Friday, he would allow 5 more runs on Monday (1 IP). The Dodgers would take a 13-5 lead off of Barlow and provide themselves with some solid insurance to prevent any chance at a comeback for the Padres. After allowing a staggering 34 runs in the series as a team (an average of 8.5 per game), San Diego will need to see vast improvement going forward if they wish to remain competitive.
Luis Campusano homers twice
While most aspects of Monday’s game were ugly for the Padres, Luis Campusano provided an excellent game on offense. He helped to get the scoring started for San Diego in the third inning as he blasted a 2-run homer to center field off of Tony Gonsolin. In the sixth inning, he was able to bring in another run with an RBI single. He would hit his second homer of the day in the ninth inning off of Bryan Hudson to bring the game to its final score of 13-7. Perhaps Campusano’s performance would have helped to boost the Padres to an important win if not for their rough day on the mound. Campusano continues to impress as he boasts a .319 average in games that he starts at catcher. His strong 4-4 showing (2 RBI, 2 R) might give the Padres a bigger reason to consider using him as catcher more often.
Entire Dodger lineup gets involved
In a 13-run effort, the Dodgers were spreading the hits around. As they tallied 15 of them in the game, every member of the lineup (excluding pinch-hitter Amed Rosario) was able to record at least one hit. Notable moments for Los Angeles in the game included Mookie Betts’ grand slam, Kike Hernandez’s solo homer, and Max Muncy’s 2 RBI double. From the jump, the Dodgers fell behind 5-0 and were facing the pressure to put some runs on the board. They responded in just the right way as everyone stepped up to the plate and helped the team put up the 13 unanswered runs that they would need to secure a series victory. As for the Padres, they can only hope going forward that their pitching staff will be able to back up the offense in better fashion during games in which they put up high quantities of runs.
San Diego will begin a new series against the 60-52 Mariners tomorrow in Seattle as both teams look to battle for Wild Card Spots in their respective leagues.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PST.
