Dodger Stadium- Los Angeles

San Diego jumped out to an early lead once more, but were out-slugged by the Dodgers in a back-and-forth battle. In a very similar series of events, a five-spot led the Dodgers to victory for the second straight night. Hit-by-pitch speculation continued from Monday into Tuesday, resulting in the ejection of the Dodgers’ manager, Dave Roberts.

While Monday’s contest featured quite the headline of a pitching matchup, Tuesday night saw a more typical game script. For the Padres, Randy Vasquez made start no. 15 of 2025, coming in with a respectable 3.57 ERA. Meanwhile, Dave Roberts and the Dodgers opted for yet another bullpen game. Jack Dryer began the game for L.A. and threw just two innings of one-run baseball.

With Jackson Merrill likely stuck in concussion protocol for the remainder of the week, Brandon Lockridge started in center. Xander Bogaerts, who committed an error on Monday, served as the DH, and Jose Iglesias slotted in at shortstop. Outfielder Bryce Johnson was also made available on the bench, as Luis Campusano was optioned to Triple-A.

In Merrill’s vacant spot in the order, Gavin Sheets stepped up big time in the first inning. A 10-pitch battle with Dryer resulted in a loop single on a well placed slider, plating the Padres’ first run. The knock extended Sheets’ hitting streak to eight games, and gave San Diego another first-inning lead over L.A.

Up and at ’em.

⭐️: https://t.co/ARilN7zMDX pic.twitter.com/aWnYYH4M09

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 18, 2025

While ‘breakout games’ are more of a football term, Los Angeles’s Andy Pages made quite the case for the baseball variant. The 24-year-old from Cuba went 4-4, homering twice off of Vasquez and tagging Jeremiah Estrada with an RBI single in the sixth. Pages is putting together an impressive campaign, and adding two more homers will certainly help move his needle in the All-Star race.

AND THAT’S WHO ANDY PAGES IS! pic.twitter.com/oMfImbUf1m

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 18, 2025

San Diego’s greatest chance came in the third, as Martin Maldonado led off the inning with a double. Just his sixth extra-base hit of the year, Maldonado was able to drive it off the wall in center field. Just two pitches later, Lou Trivino hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a sinker, possibly instigating the drama to come. Luis Arraez tied the game with his second hit, a liner just down the line in left. Manny Machado drew a deep-count walk to load the bases for Gavin Sheets, giving him a chance to come up with a momentum swing.

The small-scale chippy incident transpired in the bottom half of the third, as Vasquez plunked the reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani with a fastball in the leg. The hit-by-pitch resulted in warnings issued to both sides, to the disagreement of Dave Roberts. After being told to remain in the dugout, Roberts took give-or-take three steps onto the field, which earned him a rare ejection.

The turning point came in the bottom half of the sixth, as Jeremiah Estrada surrendered his worst outing of the season. The Dodgers put together a five-run rally to take an 8-3 lead. Catcher Will Smith set the tone with a wild, 12-pitch at-bat that ended in a two-run homer. After a pair of RBI hits by Pages and Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman struck out in his second plate appearance of the inning, to put an end to the frame.

In a quick response, Trenton Brooks pumped some life into both the Padres and his aspiring MLB career. Pinch-hitting for Brandon Lockridge, he got a hold of a fastball and secured his first big fly in the major leagues. The Padres’ first long ball of the series cut the deficit to 3 and helped turn the order over to Tatis Jr. and company.

First Major League home run for Trenton Brooks! pic.twitter.com/4xxBdIAvZy

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 18, 2025

Tatis Jr. walked and Arraez legged out his third single of the game, setting up Machado with another opportunity. Machado drew yes, another walk, to load the bases again for Sheets. After going ahead 3-1, Sheets offered at two consecutive balls outside of the zone, which resulted in a pop-out. Xander Bogaerts would ground out for the fourth time of the day, but not before Michael Kopech stumbled, held on to the ball, and by rule, balked to plate the Padres’ sixth run.

With the seventh inning momentum, the Padres’ bottom half of the order made more noise in the eighth. Bloop singles from Jake Cronenworth and the recently acquired Bryce Johnson turned the lineup over once more, with another chance. Tatis Jr. was issued an intentional walk, and Arraez failed to make L.A. pay. The left-handed reliever Anthony Banda induced a shallow fly out near the left field foul line.

While the rally was refreshing to see, the 5-run deficit proved too much for San Diego’s offense. Tanner Scott came in and shut the door, retiring Machado, Sheets, and Bogaerts in order.

Following the draining loss, manager Mike Shildt backed both the team’s resilience and execution. “The guys got after it, got ourselves in position there at the end”, he said, “the fight was there, which is consistent with our club.”

In response to a question inquiring about the concern level, Shildt stated, “It’s not very high, actually. We’re going to play the game to win, and we’re going to play hard.” To his credit, the resilience was present, as the bullpen held the Dodgers scoreless after the sixth, and the offense came to life late.

San Diego will aim to avoid falling behind 3-0 in the four-game series tomorrow, at 7:10 PM. Emmett Sheehan will make his season debut, and Stephen Kolek will get the ball for San Diego.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a combination of around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X, and daily newsletters on the TikTok platform. Willy passionately studies Journalism at San Dieguito Academy, and is working to become billingual in Spanish to assist in communicating with Latin-born players and coaches.