Friday night’s series opener between the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres was a tribute to the adage that good pitching beats good hitting.
In this case, it did so by knockout.
Two of the top-scoring teams in the majors combined for three runs, seven hits and 24 strikeouts as San Diego eked out a 2-1 victory to end the Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak.
Luis Arraez had an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Padres, who will aim for a series victory on Saturday night.
They’ll hope to produce more offense than they did against Tyler Glasnow and two relievers, who limited them to three hits and fanned 13 on Friday. But San Diego bunched two hits into the ninth — a leadoff double by Luis Campusano and Arraez’s game-winning hit — to pull out the victory.
It was a great first impression for Arraez in his first home game after being traded by Miami on May 3 for four prospects.
“As advertised,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of Arraez, who is 9-of-24 in his first six games for San Diego. “What he can bring and the at-bats that he can bring are clearly a help to the lineup.”
A bigger help to the club would be if right-hander Matt Waldron (1-4, 5.82 ERA) can right himself after a dismal start Sunday in Arizona. The Diamondbacks battered him for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in three-plus innings of an 11-4 San Diego defeat.
Waldron said poor mechanics led to his undoing.
“It’s just how I get down the mound,” he said. “I’m at my best when I’m not necessarily getting closer, but closer with my front shoulder closed and like committing out here, out in front of me to get them out.
“It was ugly. It’s a tough way to learn.”
Waldron will make his second career start against Los Angeles. His first was on April 13 in Dodger Stadium, where he received a no-decision despite yielding only one run on three hits in five innings with four walks and four strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles will send James Paxton (4-0, 3.06 ERA) to the mound on Saturday, hoping he continues to produce victories while improving his command and efficiency. The veteran left-hander is coming off a 5-1 win Sunday over Atlanta, limiting a potent offense to one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
But Paxton has more walks (24) than strikeouts (18) this season, largely because of his first outing against the Padres on April 14. In five-plus innings, he issued a career-high eight walks that eventually led to three sixth-inning runs.
Paxton hopes he can replicate his command from the Atlanta start.
“I finally found some rhythm out there,” he said. “We’ve been working hard here in between games trying to figure it out, and it just feels good to make some progress. It felt great.”
Lifetime, Paxton is 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in five starts against San Diego, fanning 25 in 24 2/3 innings and walking 18.
–Field Level Media