San Diego Padres: 3 takeaways from the Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers

The San Diego Padres fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, and it wasn’t even close. Here are some key takeaways from the series opener.

Facing the National League West juggernauts, the San Diego Padres failed to get anything going against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was expected to be a tough outing, but the Padres looked lost at the plate for most of the night.

The Dodgers became the first team in the MLB to reach 60 wins and are now 14.5 games ahead in the NL West. Fans thought that coming off a series sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants might light a fire under the team, but alas.

The Padres are now 42-45 after hitting a five-game losing streak, going 4-6 in their last 10. It feels like ages ago when the they swept the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles, and when they took the series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here are three takeaways from the Game 1 loss.

More from Friars on Base

• Padres fighting with hated rival to sign quality veteran relief pitcher
• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher

Lamet looks good

In his first outing since Tommy John surgery, Dinelson Lamet breathed a sigh of relief into the starting lineup.

While only pitching five frames, he looked comfortable on the mound and displayed good command. Lamet allowed three runs off of three hits, but he struck out seven batters and walked two.

Things went south in the fifth, however, as Lamet gave up a single and two walks to load the bases. The inning culminated in hitting Joc Pederson with a pitch to walk in a run, then giving up a sacrifice fly to widen the Dodgers lead to 3-0.

That would be his last inning of the night, as Lamet was replaced by Logan Allen in the sixth. The bullpen reared its ugly head once again; Allen quickly surrendered two runs off of two hits in his single inning of relief.

As the season goes on, having Lamet back in the lineup should ease some of the pressure on the bullpen.

Hosmer staying hot

Eric Hosmer drove in the only Padres RBI, preventing a shut out at the hands of Hyun-jin Ryu, who had another fine outing. Hosmer went 2-for-4 with a two singles and one strikeout.

He’s been red-hot recently, batting .344/.385/.516 in his last 15 games with three home runs and 13 RBIs. Of course, he owes some of that success to Fernando Tatis Jr., who’s been a monster on the bases and has helped Hosmer cash in some RBIs.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team couldn’t help him out. The Padres mustered only five hits on the night as well as an error, leaving six runners on base and going 1-for-4 with RISP.

The Friars need a break

Now in the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Padres are hard-pressed to the stem the bleeding.

Only last week, they were 1.5 games back from the wild card spot – now they sit 3.5 games back. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, the NL wild card race is up for grabs, with five teams currently ahead of the Friars also knocking on the door.

It’ll be tough playing the Dodgers for three more games as we head into the All-Star break. The series could very well set the tone for the second half of the season, depending on if the Padres stumble into the middle of July or end the first half on a high note.

We’ll find out if San Diego is content with their prospects, choosing to call up and develop new pitchers throughout the season, or if they’ll pursue some key pieces in free agency to chase a playoff spot.

Nonetheless, it seems like when the Padres fall down, they stay there for a while. They’ve now had six losing-streaks this season, all of which have negated some sort of W-L progress.

How the team responds will indicate how much the culture has changed since years past – not only for this season, but also for when the team becomes a legitimate contender.

For complete coverage on the San Diego Padres’ 2019 season, continue following Friars on Base all season long.