Dodger Stadium- Los Angeles

The Padres surrendered the division lead to the Dodgers, dropping their series-opener by a final score of 3-2. Ramon Laureano gave the Padres an instant kickstart, homering off the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw early. With Michael King placed on the IL yesterday, Randy Vasquez got the bulk of the innings and surrendered two of the three runs. Teoscar Hernandez added a run on a big fly, as the Padres answered back with a run in the eighth. However, the Dodgers’ mix-and-match strategy in their bullpen ultimately halted the Padres’ comeback hopes in the ninth.

Series-altering news released Thursday, as the Padres announced that Michael King is headed back to the IL. The right-handed starter was preparing to start his second game after coming back from shoulder inflammation. However, San Diego’s opening day starter caught a tough break and will presumably miss the remainder of August.

In his place, the Padres opted to hand the ball to the left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta. Peralta— who’s appeared in 485 games across ten seasons— made just the second start of his entire career. Entering the ballgame, Peralta has been enjoying a great year out of the bullpen, posting a 3.13 ERA. Peralta only pitched HOW MANY innings before turning the ball over, but faced the task of handling the top of the Dodgers’ order.

For the Dodgers, the future Hall-of-Fame Clayton Kershaw opened the series for manager Dave Roberts. At 37, Kershaw’s not the same pitcher that he once was, but is still having an under-the-radar season. He’s delivered a 3.14 ERA across 71.2 innings, and earned his 11th All-Star nod this past July, albeit was a “legacy selection” by the MLB. The Padres saw him late in 2024, and plated three earned runs and four unearned runs against the lefty at home.

The Padres were uber-aggressive against the starter Kershaw in the first, swinging at the first pitch on all three at-bats. Unfortunately, Kershaw rolled through the Padres’ top of the order with strikeouts of Luis Arraez and Manny Machado. Wandy Peralta matched him, retiring Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts with the help of two impressive catches by Jackson Merrill in center field. Will Smith— who ranks second in the MLB in OBP— struck out to end the inning.

In the second frame, the Padres’ four and five hitters went quickly, but Ramon Laureano ended that quickly. On a curveball from Kershaw, Laureano golfed it down the line and just off the outside part of the foul pole. The Padres leaped ahead 1-0, on skyscraper from the Padres’ new weapon. Jose Iglesias added a walk, but Kershaw escaped the inning with a groundout.

Ramón is really that guy. pic.twitter.com/UBgK9YCV24

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 16, 2025

Afterwards, Wandy Peralta came back out to face the left-handed Freddie Freeman, striking him out handily. Randy Vasquez, the expected “bulk” pitcher, entered following the departure of Peralta. Vasquez struck out Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages to keep the Dodgers in order.

However, the third inning didn’t go as planned for the Padres. Back-to-back hits from Michael Conforto and Alex Freeland put the Padres in a suboptimal spot with the nine hitter, Miguel Rojas, coming up. Rojas squared to bunt and shallowly popped it up on the second attempt. Manny Machado attempted a diving play, but it kicked off his glove and into foul territory. Suddenly, Randy Vasquez was faced with Shohei Ohtani in a bases-loaded situation. Ohtani whiffed twice but was able to connect on an RBI groundout to even the score. Then, Mookie Betts gave Los Angeles the advantage with a sacrifice fly deep out to center field.

Kershaw took off after the second inning, retiring ten straight batters. He ended up cruising to a quality start, pushing through six innings while allowing just the one run. In the bottom half of the sixth, Jeremiah Estrada entered to face the Dodgers’ top three hitters and was successful. He worked through the top of the order, ending the sixth with a strikeout of  Will Smith.

Ben Casparius took over for Kershaw in the seventh and worked around a double from Jackson Merrill. Merrill lofted it down the line, but Ramon Laureano couldn’t capitalize on the extra-base hit. In the bottom half, Estrada came out for the second inning of work. He struck out Freeman, but allowed a home run to Teoscar Hernandez just three pitches later. Yuki Matsui took over the reins of the seventh and worked around a pair of walks to end the inning with the deficit at 3-1.

Flex on ’em, Teoscar! pic.twitter.com/8VOnZqlfSb

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 16, 2025

Alex Vesia entered in the eighth for the Dodgers, looking to contain the Padres’ bottom of the order. In a flash, Vesia lost the first two hitters on hit by pitches that just grazed Jose Iglesias and Jake Cronenworth. After Freddy Fermin laid down a sacrifice bunt, nd Fernando Tatis Jr. walked, the table was set for Luis Arraez. Arraez connected on a sacrifice fly on a pitch up and out of the zone, cutting the deficit in half.

With Manny Machado coming up, Dave Roberts went to his closer, Blake Treinen, to try to hold the lead. Trienen threw one middle-middle sweeper, and Machado was just under it. He popped it up to foul ground in left field, nearly missing a game-changing blast.

In the one-run game scenario, Mason Miller came on to face Ohtani, Betts, and Smith. He worked a groundout against Betts and struck out Ohtani and Smith. Alexis Diaz entered the save opportunity, with Bogaerts, Merrill, and Laureano due up.

Quickly, Bogaerts struck out against Diaz on an outside slider. Jackson Merrill was next and put up a much peskier at-bat, singling after seeing nine pitches. With one on and out, Ramon Laureano also made himself a tough at-bat. He saw seven pitches, but ultimately struck out on a perfectly placed slider. With pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn waiting on deck to pinch hit, Dave Roberts went to his sixth pitcher of the night.

Lefty Jack Dryer came in to try to end the game, and he only needed three pitches. Dryer put a slider over the plate, but O’Hearn unfortunately flew it to center for the final out.

The Padres will continue the series tomorrow, with Dylan Cease on the mound for the middle game. For the Dodgers, old friend Blake Snell will face his old team in his second start off the IL. First pitch is at 6:10 PM.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a public baseball media account covering around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X. Willy is set to attend the Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall of 2026 at Arizona State University, where he’ll pursue a major in sports journalism.