Padres shutout by Scherzer, Dodgers 8-0
Credit: AP Photo
The first series of the brutal final stretch for the San Diego Padres could not have gone any worse, as the Padres were embarrassingly swept following an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game result may not even be the biggest loss for the Padres Sunday, as Blake Snell left the game in the first inning with left adductor tightness.
This is where Blake Snell appeared to injure himself. pic.twitter.com/I7nAeAuKbe
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 12, 2021
Facing Max Scherzer, the Padres only got on base once all game when Eric Hosmer lined a double down the right-field line. The other 27 times the Padres stepped up to the plate, the batter ended up in the dugout. San Diego only hit the ball over 100 MPH twice, both of which ended up in pretty routine outs. Their expected batting average for the game was a measly .121, which is only slightly higher than the game’s actually batting average. They swung and missed twenty times, 19 of which were against Scherzer.
“It’s as poor as we’ve played,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “We’ve gotta play better on all cylinders, but it’s right there in front of us.”
Scherzer made a lot of history with his performance against the Padres Sunday. In the second inning, he threw his third career immaculate inning, an inning in which the pitcher strikes out all three batters on just nine pitches. He is now one of three pitchers to throw three immaculate innings in their career, joining Sandy Koufax and Chris Sale. No pitcher is yet to throw four immaculate innings in their career. Scherzer also recorded his 3,00th career strikeout when he retired Hosmer in the fifth inning. He is the 19th player to reach the 3,000 strikeout plateau.
Following Snell’s departure, the Padres bullpen needed to finish the remainder of the game. Nabil Crismatt entered first and gave some scoreless length before things fell apart. Every other reliever for the Padres following Crismatt allowed at least one run, with Emilio Pagan allowing three in the seventh and Austin Adams giving up two in the eighth inning.
Yu Darvish exits to a standing O' after striking out 12 Giants' batters!@Padres | #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/vZ5FU5rzXV
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) May 1, 2021
The Padres will now continue their road trip by traveling to San Francisco to face the Giants for the first time since May 9. It will be a four-game series starting Monday with Yu Darvish on the mound. The first pitch will be at 6:45 PT.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”