Padres News: Padres Fall in Dodgers Homer Parade

The Padres battled against the Dodgers again Friday night  and took a 3-3 tie into the 6th inning. Unfortunately the bullpen imploded as no one could keep the Dodgers in the park or off the scoreboard. The deficit was too much for the Padres to overcome this night and they lost the game 8-4.

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James Shields labored through five – walking 6 – and throwing only 60 strikes out of his 107 pitches before pulled before the sixth inning. Trade Deadline acquisition Marc Rzepczynski relieved Marcos Mateo in the 6th with 1 out and promptly gave up two home runs, including one to Adrian Gonzalez as the Dodgers took control of the evening.

In all, the Dodgers hit 5 home runs on the night and while the Padres hit three of their own – including former Dodger Matt Kemp, Jedd Gyorko‘s second in two nights, and Brett Wallace – the deficit was just too much to overcome.

The Padres bullpen clearly misses Shawn Kelley and Brandon Maurer as the help has not been adequate to bridge the gap between the starting pitching and Joaquin Benoit/Craig Kimbrel. Rzepcynski in particular now has a season ERA of 6.07 and if AJ Preller thought he was the “missing link” for a playoff run it appears he was certainly mistaken.

Matt Kemp did hit career home run number 200 in the game, one of only 34 active players and 16 in the National League. Offensively for the Padres Wil Myers made his long awaited return to the lineup and went 0-4. The team will monitor him closely this final month and likely give him occasional rest as well to avoid any further injury before the season is over. How he plays in 2016 will likely be a major factor to the Padres success.

Brian Bolsinger got the win for the Dodgers in his return to the rotation at least temporarily. The Dodgers got home runs from Carl Crawford, rookie Scott Shebler, Justin Ruggiano, Chase Utley, and Adrian.

Game 3 is tonight at 6:05 with the Dodgers sending youngster Alex Wood acquired from Atlanta at the deadline and Tyson Ross hopes to continue a strong run and improve to 11-9.

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