San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell thwarted the Los Angeles Dodgers batting, leading the Padres to a 6-1 victory.
Snell (W, 14-9) struck out eight Dodgers in a span of six innings. Dodgers general manager Dave Roberts noted how Snell “had a good rhythm.”
“When [Snell] is on, there’s not too many teams that are gonna put at batts together, put hits together,” Roberts said. “He’s a strikeout pitcher, makes a lot of swing-and-miss, he was hitting ahead early.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot (L, 2-1) allowed six hits and four runs in six innings. After his performance on the mound, he hopes to lean on what he did well and learn from his shortcomings.
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“Obviously we want a couple of pitches back, you have to look back at those and figure out where the spots are when I need to make those pitches,” Pepiot said. “I just tried to keep the guys involved, but I put them in too big of a hole.”
Snell’s performance during the matchup could make his case as a Cy Young candidate.
“It’s just a baseball game, we play 162 of them, you’re gonna have some off nights,” Chris Taylor said. “Sometimes you run into a Cy Young pitcher and he’s feeling good. I think you sometimes have to forget it and move on.”
Juan Soto set the tone for the Padres by hitting a home run on his first at-bat. Mookie Betts was the only Dodger to reach a base in seven innings.
Meanwhile, the Padres found their stride at bat. Luis Campusano made a three-run home run in the fourth inning, boosting San Diego to a four-point lead.
Fernando Tatis Jr. then hit a 2RBI single in the seventh, pegging the Padres’ score at six.
Betts, who stole two bases in the effort, was subbed out by Kolten Wong in the ninth phase. In his lone at-bat, Wong whacked a homer to put the Boys in Blue on the board.
Despite the loss, the Dodgers lead the NL West with an 88-57 record and is second to the Atlanta Braves in the National League. The Braves clinched their spot in the Playoffs and the NL East Wednesday night after a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Dodgers will begin their three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday.
