LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers pitching staff issued 13 walks as a pitching staff Sunday night and the offense stalled after the fourth inning in a 6-3 loss to the San Diego Padres at a cold and wet Dodger Stadium. 

Left-hander James Paxton did an adequate job in terms of limiting damage, but his command was non-existent. The Padres took advantage of eight walks by Paxton and stayed in the game.  

The Dodgers (11-7) offense produced three runs in the fourth inning and that was it. The bottom of the lineup (which has been a constant issue) again went hitless.

Ryan Brasier, Alex Vesia, and Nick Ramirez combined for 3 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief, but a bad one-third of an inning by newcomer J.P. Feyereisen doomed the Dodgers. 

Here are three takeaways:

Offense struggles again 

Usually when the Dodgers have a great inning at the plate, it is the beginning of them pulling away from any opponent. However, on Sunday it was the complete opposite. 

Will Smith singled to score Freddie Freeman and evened the score at 1-1. Then Max Muncy crushed a two-run home run right-field seats.

That was the last time the Dodgers would score, and with RISP, the team was a collective 1 for 5. It almost seemed like in the two losses to this Padres team (who had been scuffling coming in), the Dodgers reverted back to their postseason ways of not scoring at opportune times. 

Outside of the top five hitters, four players combined to go 0 for 13 at the plate. While it is the regular season, this will have to be addressed.  

Bullpen can’t get it done 

The Dodgers bullpen ERA has climbed to 4.58, which ranks 20th in the majors. Also, they are in the bottom four of earned-runs allowed. 

Is it all doom and gloom? No, because they did turn it around in the second half of 2023, but the bullpen is quickly becoming a liability. 

Time for Pages? 

Amid the bottom-of-the-order struggles, what Andy Pages is doing at Triple-A Oklahoma City should be noticed. 

He is hitting .371 with a .452 OBP, 1.146 OPS and 5 home runs and 15 RBI. 

While Chris Taylor (.193) and James Outman (.173) have been struggling at the plate. Why not give Pages a shot?

The Dodgers start a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at 7:10 p.m. Monday, which is Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium. Tyler Glasnow (3-0, 2.25 ERA) will take the mound against Mitchell Parker (0-0, 0.00).