Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates after his two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a spring training baseball game Thursday, March 2, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
If the Padres hadn’t already learned their lesson the last time they threw up a crying Clayton Kershaw meme at the scoreboard at Petco, they absolutely would’ve done it last night. On Tuesday, the Dodgers lost their first game against the Padres in brutal come-from-behind, walk-off fashion, but then the calendar turned over into August, the trade deadline passed, and LA should’ve taken that as a time to collect themselves and reset.
Kershaw was set to be on the mound in Game 2, and although he’d only made one start since coming back from injury, a Kershaw start is always a good reason to get excited, right?
Nope! By the time the Padres had trounced the Dodgers 8-1, Kershaw put up one of the worst lines of his entire career. He went just 3 2/3 innings and gave up six hits and seven runs (only three earned), not striking out a single batter for the first time in his entire 17-year career.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers only put a solo run on a Gavin Lux double and posted just two more hits through nine innings. They also committed three errors, two courtesy of Lux (one ultimately allowed a run to score) and one from Kershaw. Not exactly the best vibe to start off the “second half” on.
Clayton Kershaw put up one of the worst starts of his career against the Padres on Wednesday night
With that second loss against the Padres, the Dodgers also concluded their worst month in six years. The last time they played that badly over an entire month was April 2018, when they went 11-14 (subscription required). But that was right at the beginning of the season and they managed to work out the kinks, going on to take the NL pennant from the Brewers before falling to the Red Sox in the World Series.
This is different. The Dodgers have two more full months of play, and if anything, they’ve just gotten worse. The roster has weathered countless injuries and, despite some strong additions at the trade deadline, they weren’t nearly as active as they were expected to be, leaving them with gaps on the roster that they still need to figure out how to fill.
Unfortunately, there are no longer avenues for the Dodgers to fill them internally. The only solution now is that these guys just play better, but they certainly didn’t give anyone reason to believe that’ll happen soon with their loss on Wednesday.
