Dylan Cease, Manny Machado Game 1 chokes vs Dodgers badly reroute NLDS for Padres

The San Diego Padres took a 3-0 lead in the first inning over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night during Game 1 of the NLDS. When the dust settled, they lost 7-5 and it was hard to believe everything got out of hand the way it did.

Manny Machado blasted a two-run homer in the first off Yoshinobu Yamamoto and silenced Dodger Stadium. Yamamoto eventually left the game after just three innings and it was later revealed he was tipping his pitches. Best possible start, right?

Except Dylan Cease couldn't execute for the Padres and the game went wayside. Cease coughed up five earned runs on six hits and two walks in just 3 1/3 innings. He labored through 82 pitches, only 50 of which were strikes. He simply did not execute, and he admitted it in the postgame.

And sadly, that was the best the Padres had it. Cease was very well-rested for this contest as manager Mike Shildt preserved the arms he wanted to during the NL Wild Card series against the Braves.

Cease's dud forced Shildt to go to the bullpen early, and those who were called upon didn't get the job done out of the gate. Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada couldn't stop the bleeding and two more runs crossed the plate after Cease exited. In hindsight, Cease pitching to Shohei Ohtani in that second inning was a bad, bad idea.

Dylan Cease, Manny Machado Game 1 chokes vs Dodgers badly reroute NLDS for Padres

But that's not to say the Padres didn't have their chances beyond the pitching woes. Machado, on a routine play, committed a throwing error in the bottom of the fifth and that run eventually crossed the plate on a double play (which instead would have ended the inning).

Had it been a 6-5 game instead of a 7-5 game, the pressure might've felt different for the Dodgers, who escaped multiple tight-rope acts in the eighth and ninth. That includes Machado striking out on an awful swing to end the game with rinners on first and second. Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen was at 38 pitches and appeared to be LA's last resort. Simply can't go down like this.

In all, the Padres went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base while the Dodgers used five relievers to get to the finish line. San Diego let LA off the hook in a game that should have been theirs from the jump, but the Pads removed their foot from the Dodgers' throat. They didn't get a run across after Yamamoto left the game.

Game 2 will take place on Sunday night. It will be Yu Darvish vs Jack Flaherty. Shildt can't afford another early exit from his starter, so Darvish will have to step up against his former team in a familiar environment. And there can't be routine errors. And there can't be strikeouts in high-leverage situations that resemble how Donovan Solano and Machado went down in the eighth and ninth innings.