San Diego Padres snap losing streak against the Los Angeles Dodgers

The San Diego Padres emerged victorious against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night in front of a, literally, rocking crowd.

It’s been a while since the San Diego Padres tallied the win column. After a five-game losing streak, they pulled out the chalk and made their mark against the National League West rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

Request to have Hunter Renfroe bat and Eric Lauer pitch every game against L.A.?

In what turned out to be a thrilling game, the Padres overcame some defensive lapses and scoring struggles to top the Dodgers 3-2. They had six hits as a team, going only 1-for-6 with RISP and leaving six runners on base.

In the end, though, the Friars did more damage than a Southern California earthquake.

The Dodger-destroyer

Despite the abysmal Friars defense that fielded two errors, Lauer put the team on his back to throw an excellent six innings with six strikeouts and a walk. He allowed two runs to score off of four hits, though only one run was earned.

Franmil Reyes dropped a pop fly to right field after some miscommunication between Ian Kinsler and Eric Hosmer; Hosmer then proceeded to throw to the wrong base on Clayton Kershaw’s sacrifice bunt. Chris Taylor drove in Austin Barnes to cut the Padres’ lead in half.

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

In the sixth, the tying run was scored when Hosmer went for the tag at home, misfiring the throw the Francisco Mejía.

Arguably, Hosmer could’ve gone for the 3-4 double play instead (1B to 2B) — I believe he had the right idea, however, and just threw a poor ball. Mejía was charged with the error.

Nevertheless, Lauer kept the team’s head above water. He’s the certified Dodger-destroyer, owning a 1.47 ERA, 1.011 WHIP, and 3-0 record against LA in his career. He’s earned his place on this starting rotation.

Hunting for homers

Hunter Renfroe reclaimed his spot at the top of the Padres’ home run leaderboard, crushing his 26th, and perhaps most important one, of the year.

In the top of the eighth inning, Renfroe hit a two-out homer to left field that would ultimately end the scoring on the night. If this feels like déjà vu, then that’s probably because he owns the incredible walk-off grand slam against the Dodgers that happened back in May.

Renfroe also had a couple of great defensive plays on Friday night, some of the only fielding highlights from Game 2. He has a respectable .277/.308/.562 slash line against LA in his career, though it’s been a tougher season this time around for the young outfielder. 26 home runs before the All-Star Game isn’t too shabby though, which makes him T-5th in the MLB.

Honorable mention

Honorable mention for Kirby Yates, who notched his 28th save of the year. He struck out two batters to orchestrate the five-out masterpiece. All-Star worthy, indeed.

The Padres vs. Dodgers series will continue with Game 3 on Saturday night, starting at 7:10 pm PT/10:10 pm ET. For complete coverage on the San Diego Padres’ 2019 season, continue following Friars on Base all season long.