Here’s what you need to know
Dodgers lose to Padres in first game back at Petco Park since playoff collapse
SAN DIEGO — The stakes were different. But the scene felt the same.
Just like last October, when their record-breaking season ended after just four playoff games, the Dodgers struggled in all areas on Friday night at Petco Park.
They couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position.
They got a choppy outing from their starter.
And in their first meeting since last year’s National League Division Series, they were foiled by the San Diego Padres once again, losing 5-2 in the opening game of a highly-anticipated weekend series before a raucous crowd of 45,116.
Wander Suero struggles and Padres extend their lead
⚾ Padres 5, Dodgers 2 — End of the eighth
Top of the eighth: The Dodgers continue to struggle on offense, going down in order for the sixth time tonight. Padres pitchers have held the Dodgers to four hits so far.
Bottom of the eighth: Reliever Wander Suero made his 2023 debut for the Dodgers, issuing a lead-off walk to Trent Grishman. Fernando Tatis Jr. flied out to center before Suero walked Manny Machado. Suero then walked Juan Soto to load the bases, prompting Dave Roberts to shake his head in visible frustration.
Xander Bogaerts then hit a force out at second, but it was enough to score Grisham. Suero struck out Matt Carpenter to end the frame.
Jason Heyward helps the Dodgers cut into the Padres’ lead
⚾ Padres 4, Dodgers 2 — End of the seventh
Top of the seventh: Will Smith broke the Dodgers’ string of 13 consecutive plate retirements with a single to center. After Max Muncy struck out, Jason Heyward drove in Smith on a double to right field. After Padres starter struck out James Outman for the second out, Nick Martinez took over on the mound and got Miguel Vargas to ground out to short.
Bottom of the seventh: Shelby Miller took over in relief, striking out Juan Soto before walking Xander Bogaerts. Miller intentionally walked Jake Cronenworth to get to Ha-Seong Kim, who he then walked to load the bases. Miller got out of the jam by striking out Austin Nola.
Dodgers trail by three runs heading into the seventh
⚾ Padres 4, Dodgers 1 — End of sixth
Top of the sixth: The Dodgers once again went down in order, making it 13 consecutive retirements for Yu Darvish and the Padres.
Bottom of the sixth: Phil Bickford oversaw a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Trent Grisham along the way.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hits his second homer of the game as Padres chase Clayton Kershaw
⚾ Padres 4, Dodgers 1 — End of the fifth
Bottom of the fifth: Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his second home run of the game off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, a two-run shot to left field to give the Padres their first lead of the game.
Kershaw opened the inning by walking Trent Grisham — Kershaw’s fifth walk tonight after he had only allowed four walks all season — before Tatis Jr. hit his fourth career homer off the Dodgers left-hander.
Kershaw’s troubles didn’t end there. Manny Machado and Juan Soto each singled before Kershaw walked Jake Cronenworth to load the bases. Ha-Seong Kim then drove in Machado on a single to short, ending Kershaw’s night in favor of reliever Phil Bickford.
Top of the fifth: The Dodgers went down in order again, with Yu Darvish striking out James Outman in the process.
Dodgers and Padres remain tied heading into the fifth
⚾ Dodgers 1, Padres 1 — End of the fourth
Top of the fourth: The Dodgers are retired in order, with Will Smith and Max Muncy each grounding out and Jason Heyward striking out.
Bottom of the fourth: Ha-Seong-Kim drew a one-out walk before he was gunned out at second by Dodgers catcher Will Smith on a stolen-base attempt. Clayton Kershaw then struck out Austin Nola to end the inning. Kershaw has allowed four hits, one earned run and has struck out five and walked three over 66 pitches.
Fernando Tatis Jr. home run ties game in the third inning
⚾ Dodgers 1, Padres 1 — End of the third
Bottom of the third: San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t hesitate. He started celebrating immediately after making contact on a poorly located fastball from Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw that he smacked 405 feet into center field at Petco Park, trying the game.
Top of the third: The Dodgers go down in order, with Padres starter Yu Darvish striking out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Dodgers hold on to 1-0 lead over Padres heading into third
⚾ Dodgers 1, Padres 0 — End of the second
Top of the second: Miguel Vargas hit a one-out triple, jumping on a Yu Darvish fastball and sending it to the wall in right-center field. The ball bounced over the head of Fernando Tatis Jr. after it hit the lower part of the wall, allowing Vargas to stretch out the hit into his second triple of 2023. A potential scoring chance was thwarted when Padres second baseman Ha-Seong Kim snagged a liner off the bat of David Peralta and quickly threw to third to get out Vargas before he could retreat back.
Bottom of the second: Jake Cronenworth led off with a single to center. Clayton Kershaw then started a 1-4-3 double play off a Ha-Seong Kim comebacker to the mound. Austin Nola followed with a bloop single into center field before Trent Grisham struck out.
Mookie Betts scores to give Dodgers early lead
⚾ Dodgers 1, Padres 0 — End of the first inning
Max Muncy drove in his 28th run of the season when he plated Mookie Betts from third on a grounder to first, giving the Dodgers an early lead.
Top of the first recap: Betts led off with a walk against Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish. Freddie Freeman doubled on a liner into right field. Will Smith popped out in foul territory off first base. Muncy then hit a liner to first, and it was just enough to score Betts from third, with Jake Cronenworth opting for the more sensible play at first. Jason Heyward flied out to center for the third out.
Bottom of the first recap: Clayton Kershaw strikes out Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado followed with a single to left field. Juan Soto flied out to center before Kershaw walked Xander Bogaerts. Nelson Cruz popped out in foul territory behind first base, Mookie Betts getting up quickly after running into the back of Freddie Freeman, who made the catch.
It took Kershaw 19 pitches (11 strikes) to get through the inning.
Gavin Stone sent back to minors; Wander Suero called up
SAN DIEGO — Gavin Stone’s first major league stint only lasted one start.
On Friday, the team optioned the right-handed pitching prospect back to the minor leagues following his four-inning, five-run (four earned) debut on Wednesday. Reliever Wander Suero was called up in his place.
With Stone being sent down, the Dodgers will go back to a five-man starting rotation. That means for next week’s series in Milwaukee, Tony Gonsolin will start Monday, Noah Syndergaard will start Tuesday and Clayton Kershaw will pitch on four days’ rest Wednesday.
“To have Gavin here for a start, it just allowed us to reset some things, give Noah some extra time, which we felt he needed,” manager Dave Roberts said. “There was some thought. But I think with the six-man, with the off day [on Thursday], there’s maybe a potential cost of getting guys out of their rhythm.”
Suero, 31, pitched in the majors for four seasons with the Washington Nationals from 2018 to 2021. He has a career 4.61 ERA, but turned some heads at Dodgers camp with his performance during spring training.
Short hops
J.D. Martinez (back) starting taking swings again on Friday. Roberts said the Dodgers are hopeful he could return by Tuesday or Wednesday ... Trayce Thompson is back at full strength after missing a couple of games this last week with an illness. Roberts said he will start on Saturday.
Inside the ‘secret’ baseball academy the Dodgers are running in Uganda
MPIGI, Uganda — Hidden at the end of a narrow, rutted dirt road in central Uganda, wedged between a concrete wall and a hillside dotted with palm trees, is the only baseball academy run by a major league team in Europe or Africa.
The Dodger blue paint and the white interlocking “LA” on the archway above the entrance identify the owner, but the team will say nothing about the facility, about its interest in Uganda and what, exactly, goes on behind that concrete wall.
“The Dodgers are keeping it a secret,” said Ssempa Johnbosco, who coached the Ugandan national team to the final of the 2019 African Cup. “I think they are scared of [losing] their players to another MLB franchise.”
Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser are on fewer Dodgers broadcasts together. Here’s why
The Dodgers have their stars lined up for the start of their big series against the San Diego Padres on Friday: Clayton Kershaw on the mound, and Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser in the broadcast booth.
Davis and Hershiser enjoy a natural rapport, at ease whether talking about baseball or barbecue, or performing a bit of carpool karaoke.
In recent weeks, as SportsNet LA broadcasts have featured Davis paired with Dontrelle Willis, and Hershiser matched with newcomer Stephen Nelson, fans reached out to ask whether the Dodgers had split up Davis and Hershiser.
Dodgers open series against Padres eager to ‘move forward’ from playoff failure
Dave Roberts immediately recognized the feeling.
The first time the Dodgers manager watched the viral video of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s news conference answer about the nature of “failure” last week — when the Milwaukee Bucks star considered the meaning of the word in the wake of his team’s shocking first-round postseason elimination — Roberts couldn’t help but relate.
To the way Antetokounmpo rubbed his hands in his head, visually grappling with the dichotomy of a great regular season that ultimately featured just a lone playoff win.
To how the NBA icon tried to compartmentalize the accomplishments of his team’s overall performance, against the fact they’d fallen woefully short of their ultimate goal.
Dodgers lineup for series opener in San Diego
Here’s how the Dodgers will line up for the first of a three-game series against the Padres at Petco Park this weekend:
Dodgers vs. Padres roundtable: Did 2022 NLDS signal a power shift in NL West?
The Dodgers and Padres will meet for the first time this season when the teams play a three-game series beginning Friday in San Diego.
It was at Petco Park, of course, where the Dodgers’ 2022 season came to a shocking end with a four-game loss to the Padres in a National League Division Series.
The Dodgers entered the postseason as the heavy World Series favorites after winning a franchise-record 111 games, including 14 of 19 against the Padres, who finished 22 games back in the National League West. But after taking Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers lost three in a row — the last two in San Diego — to suffer one of the biggest playoff disappointments in their history.
Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres series: How to watch, start times and betting odds
What you need to know: The Dodgers take their season-high six-game win streak to San Diego and will open a three-game series Friday night against the Padres at Petco Park.
Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 1.89 ERA), the National League’s pitcher of the month for April, will face right-hander Joe Musgrove (1-0, 10.80 ERA) in the opener. In his last outing April 29 against St. Louis, Kershaw struck out nine Cardinals in seven innings and allowed just two hits in a 1-0 Dodgers shutout.
It will be the first meeting between the two clubs since the Padres eliminated the Dodgers in four games in the National League division playoff series last fall.
Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season. All times and broadcast/streaming options are subject to change.
