Luis Arraez hits a walk-off single to beat the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth in his first game in San Diego

The San Diego Padres hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time in 2024. They came out victorious in Game 1 thanks to clutch hitting from Luis Campusano and Arraez.

WELCOME TO SAN DIEGO LUIS ARRAEZ!!!

PADRES WIN! pic.twitter.com/P8UhAJOf7o

— San Diego Sports 760 (@Sports760) May 11, 2024

Two of the top teams in the NL West went head-to-head for the sixth time this season and it saw two newcomers face off on the mound. The Dodgers traded for Tyler Glasgow in the offseason, and he went up against Michael King, who was the major return for San Diego in the Juan Soto deal to New York.

Both starters certainly brought the heat down in San Diego. The hits were hard to come by with two young stars on the mound. Believe it or not, all six outs in the second inning were down by the way of the K. That would be the theme of the night as they combined to strike out 14 thru three innings.

The inevitable Shohei Ohtani knocked the first hit of the game in the third inning on a liner to left field. That brought his batting average up to .359, which is the highest in the league. He will undoubtedly be a Padre-Killer for years to come.

Campusano stepped up to the stage in the bottom half of the third inning and smacked the no-doubt home run to left-center field to give the Padres their first hit of the game and, more importantly, a 1-0 advantage.

Lou to the ‘pen 🐶 pic.twitter.com/avOLQNPQg5

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 11, 2024

That homer could not have come at a better time, as Glasnow had struck out five straight Friars before that at-bat. That would end up being the only hit the Padres had through seven innings. They ended with just three on the night.

Yuki Matsui entered the contest in the 8th looking for a hold but ended up allowing back-to-back hits to Mookie Betts and Ohtani. It’s a bummer because the hit to Betts would have been a routine ground-out if it hadn’t struck Matsui on the shin. Freddie Freeman would hit a sacrifice fly to left to even the score at one. Luckily for the Padres, Smith would be intentionally walked, and Muncy hit into an inning-ending double play to keep it even.

Campusano doubled to begin the inning, and then Tyler Wade came in to pinch run. Ha-Seong Kim came up to the dish for a sacrifice attempt but struck out. On the very next pitch to Arraez, the lefty smacked a liner to center field to bring in Wade for the win. That swing was a thing of beauty.

The Padres will look to win the series Saturday night with Matt Waldron on the bump. He will go up against James Paxton.

Tyler Glasnow

Glasnow K’d up three Padres’ hitters in the first game of the season in Seoul, South Korea. On Friday night, he had K’d up four by the end of the second inning.

The former Tampa Bay Ray pitched a gem. The only hit he allowed was the home run off Campusano, and he kept the Dodgers in the game the whole way through. He avoided the loss when the Dodgers evened the score in the 8th inning.

Glasnow’s ERA shot down to 2.53, and he now leads the league with 73 strikeouts.

Michael King

The former Yankee struck out a massive eight hitters in the first three innings. He had a bit of a scare in the second and third innings as LA would put men on base. In the second, Jake Cronenworth mishandled a blooper to first base from Toescar Hernandez and it resulted in an error. King would then walk Andy Pages to put two men on but wouldn’t sweat it as he struck out Gavin Lux for his fifth of the evening. In the third, King walked Mookie Betts and allowed the first hit of the contest to Ohtani. The right-hander proceeded to strike out Freddie Freeman and Will Smith to keep it scoreless.

King only allowed one further hit to Freeman but shut down the entire 4-9 hitters on Friday night. His night ended with 11 strikeouts, and you could say that was the best outing of his career, even better than his almost-no-hitter a few starts back. Facing a Dodgers’ lineup like that and shutting them down the way he did deserves high praise.

King’s ERA lowered to 3.67 on the year and now has 54 K’s on the season.

News & Stats

• Jake Cronenworth completed all three outs in the top half of the fourth inning with a grounder and two pop-outs.
• Glasnow and King combined for 21 strikeouts.
• Matsui has allowed a run in three straight outings (four total).
• Arraez was the only Padre to not strike out.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.