It was not as bad as Opening Day of 2016. But it was close.
A year after getting ripped 15-0 by the Dodgers at Petco Park the Padres opened up against L.A. on the road and only lost 14-3. Let’s consider this an improvement.
Last year not only did the Dodgers get the shutout win; they won the next two games in shutouts to outscore the Padres 25-0 in a 3-game sweep. At least this year the Padres won’t have to wait until their 4th game to score a run.
In fact the Friars had a lead in this game. In the first inning Wil Myers reached on an error by shortstop Corey Seager and moved to 3rd base on a wild pitch. For some reason Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought the infield in and Yangervis Solarte singled up the middle to score Myers and put San Diego up 1-0.
Kershaw responded by retiring the next 19 Padres hitters in order while his offense went bonkers.
Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin had all kinds of trouble with the Dodgers lineup. The thing really went off the rails in the 3rd inning. With two outs Chacin allowed a double to Justin Turner then intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez and plunked Logan Forsythe with a pitch to load the bases for Joc Pederson.
Chacin fell behind 3-1 and had to throw a fastball, which Pederson deposited in to the right field seats for a grand slam and a 5-1 lead. The very next hitter was Yasmani Grandal, who went back-to-back with Pederson on a solo shot to put L.A. up 6-1. Grandal finished with a pair of home runs, one from each side of the plate. Chacin was pulled in the 4thinning after giving up nine runs on eight hits.
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The first reliever of the 2017 season for San Diego was Christian Bethancourt. The converted catcher looked good off the mound in Cactus League play but uncorked a pair of wild pitches, both allowing runners to come home from 3rd base, before serving up a 3-run home run to Seager that put the Dodgers up 12-1.
The Padres offense finally snapped Kershaw’s streak when Ryan Schimpf smoked a solo home run to right field off Kershaw. Manuel Margot added an RBI single in the 8th inning.
Game two of the series is Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
