Over the past weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers took a trip down to Petco Park to face the San Diego Padres. Due to the current standings in the division, which see the Dodgers in first and the Padres in fourth, this matchup was highly anticipated. The rivalry between fans and players came alive.

The Dodgers would win the series 3-1 and improve to 65 wins on the season. As for the Padres, they dropped to 11 games behind. These two teams also got busy at the trade deadline and acquisitions on both sides made productive appearances.

 Game One:

Friday night’s matchup was an exciting kickoff game for an eventful series. Dodgers relief pitcher Ryan Braiser picked up the pitching win in a 10-5 victory that saw Bobby Miller start on the mound. Padres’ relief pitcher Robert Suarez picked up the loss after a seven-inning start by starting pitcher Yu Darvish.

The Dodgers delivered the first strike behind a James Outman home run in the top of the second inning. The Padres would answer the next inning first with an impressive grab by Fernando Tatís Jr. to chase down a Betts fly ball. Then San Diego got on the board behind some singles from Bogaerts, Cronenworth, and Grisham to make it 3-1.

There was a quick personal battle in the bottom of the fifth inning between Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly and Padres Tatís Jr. Kelly threw two high pitches up and in on Tatís before striking him out with a 100mph fastball over the plate. The Padres star showed his frustration over getting nearly hit but walked back to the dugout quietly while Kelly expressed some words.

Outman would drive in the Dodgers’ next run as well with an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning. The scoring parade for Los Angeles would get into better motion the next inning with RBI hits from David Peralta and the Dodgers’ newest shortstop Amed Rosario. Padres’ relievers Suarez and Tom Cosgrove gave up back-to-back scoring walks to Chris Taylor and J.D. Martinez. 

The Dodgers’ bats stayed alive for the ninth inning to put away the home team for game one of the weekend series. An RBI double from Will Smith, a sacrifice fly from Peralta, and an RBI single from Taylor would cap off the scoring for the Dodgers and bring them to ten runs. The Padres, although faced with a tough challenge in the bottom of the ninth, went out fighting behind a Juan Soto solo home run.

Game Two:

Saturday’s game two saw a bounce-back win for the Padres in impressive fashion. They outhit the Dodgers 11-6 and were able to come from behind when the bats had seemed to go cold. Blake Snell got the start on the mound for San Diego, but the win was picked up by Nick Martinez who came in for the seventh and eighth innings. Yancy Almonte picked up the pitching loss for the Dodgers in a bullpen game that also featured Michael Grove, Ryan Yarbrough, and Brusdar Graterol before Almonte.

The Dodgers lineup was able to stay hot carrying into game two. They got on the board early again thanks to a Will Smith home solo home run in the first inning and a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández in the second. Manny Machado was able to get the Padres on the board with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the fourth.

The eighth inning proved eventful again, this time in favor of the home team. Grisham started off the bottom of the inning with a leadoff single, and the bases were later loaded due to back-to-back walks from Almonte to Ha-Seong Kim and Tatís Jr. The Padres then leveled out the score behind a throwing error by Hernández. It did not end there.

Following the botched throw to first that tied the game, the Padres took the lead with a 2-RBI single from Machado to make it 5-3 San Diego. Cronenworth’s second hit of the night drove in Machado, and the Padres finished the inning with another 2-RBI single from Trent Grisham.

Ryan Kerr came in to close for the Padres and was able to put down Outman, Hernandez, and Miguel Rojas for a 1-2-3 ninth inning. San Diego takes game two 8-3.

Game Three:

On Sunday, the Dodgers were able to bounce back from a late crumble in game two and beat the Padres 8-2 in game three. Dodgers’ new starting pitcher Lance Lynn got the start and the win on the mound. Lynn went six innings, struck out six, allowed four hits, and gave up one run. The Padres put their new deadline pickup Rich Hill on the mound for a less beneficial start. Hill’s San Diego debut only lasted three innings that saw him give up six earned runs. 

Rosario also proved to be a good trade acquisition when he started the night’s scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning. After getting a quick 2-0 lead on the Padres in the top of the side, Lynn put down the top of San Diego’s lineup 1-2-3. 

Los Angeles was able to build on their lead quickly in the third inning after a sacrifice bunt from Austin Barnes brought home Hernández from third. The home plate umpire originally ruled that Hernandez was out on the play, but a blocking violation by Padres catcher Gary Sanchez would overturn the call. Freddie Freeman, who is inevitable this season, then boosted the Dodgers’ score later in the inning with a three-run home run to right field.

San Diego began their fight back with a Sanchez solo shot that carried 433 feet into left in the bottom of the third inning. However, the Padres would go quiet again behind an extremely close double play that was turned by the Dodgers infield. Lynn was able to go scoreless the rest of his outing and came out with the Dodgers up 6-1. Cronenworth would score the Padres’ last run with a solo shot in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers would cruise out their win behind a Mookie Betts solo home run in the eighth and an RBI double from Hernández in the ninth.

Game Four: 

The series finale for the most recent edition of Dodgers vs. Padres did not let up from the action seen the past three days. Monday’s game four saw the Dodgers take the series behind a 13-7 win. Tony Gonsolin took the mound for the Dodgers and secured the win through six innings despite giving up a decent handful of runs to the Padres. San Diego’s starter Seth Lugo picked up the pitching loss after allowing eight runs through 3.1 innings of work. 

The Padres were able to get on the board first for the first time in the series thanks to a two-run home run by Luis Campusano in the third inning. Beforehand, both teams had done well to help their pitchers and make impressive grabs and turn double plays. However, San Diego quickly turned up the heat in their home ballpark with a Tatís Jr. 2-RBI double and a Machado sacrifice fly.

Going into the fourth inning, the Dodgers were down 5-0 but were able to get their bats going with an explosive response. First, Peralta drove in the Dodgers’ first run with an RBI double, which was immediately followed by a 2-RBI double from Heyward that bounced off the wall in right. Rojas then hit a blooping RBI single that loaded the bases for a dangerous Mookie Betts.

Betts capped off a productive fourth inning for the Dodgers with a grand slam to give Los Angeles an 8-5 lead. Once the fourth inning was over, the game took a brief pause in scoring until the Dodgers opened the run factory again in the top of the sixth. Hernández hit his first home run back with the team to lead off the inning; Smith drove one in with an RBI single; and Muncy finished off the Dodgers scoring with a 2-RBI double. 

The Padres were given an uphill battle once again down 13-5 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Campusano was able to drive in his third run of the day with a two-out RBI single that resulted in him getting caught stretching to second. Relief pitchers Luis Garcia and Cosgrove for the Padres kept the Dodgers quiet the rest of the way. Despite Campusano’s second home run of the night in the ninth inning, San Diego could not rally. 

Looking Ahead:

The Dodgers were able to walk out of Petco Park with a series win over their rival Padres and maintain their spot at the top of the division. The Padres will look to bounce back in their current series with the Seattle Mariners, and the Dodgers will be looking to make the Diamondbacks less of a threat in a road series in Arizona.