Good morning,
The series between the Padres and Dodgers over the past two weekends exemplify how wonderfully unpredictable and upside down baseball can be.
There is the mere fact that you never would have guessed that the Padres would be in control of the National League West this morning. (Don’t lie! You wouldn’t have!)
But here they are, having answered getting swept last weekend in Los Angeles by winning the first two games of the teams’ series here this weekend to extend their winning streak to five games and retake the division lead.
Moreover — since the Dodgers and Padres will both have 31 games remaining after they conclude their season series this afternoon — there is the absurd contrariety of the two teams’ offenses to make you shake your head and laugh and cry.
The Dodgers have hit more runs than all but one team in the major leagues this season and last night scored their only run on a homer. That was after they scored their only run on a homer Friday.
The Padres have hit fewer homers than all but one team in the major leagues this season and last night scored five runs on the strength of three hits, four walks (out of their six total) and a sacrifice fly. That was after they scored two runs Friday by stringing together a walk, a sacrifice bunt, two singles and a sacrifice fly.
This is not to say the Padres do not want to hit more home runs. We have spent a lot of time on that topic. They do want to.
But they are not consumed by a quest for power. They know who they are and believe their approach is the right one to take them as far as they can go.
And the Dodgers are talking like a team that would like to be more like the Padres.
“These nights for sure are frustrating for the offense,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said, “because we know we’re more than capable of putting up better at-bats and more hits together to create some traffic and being able to give us a chance to win the game. … We’ve got to be better making adjustments in-game.
“I know it’s hard. I know hitting is the hardest thing to do. But I feel like we need to continue to get better if we want to get to where we want to be, which is winning the division and winning the World Series. As an offense, we’ve got to start making a little bit better adjustments in-game.”
Like the Padres did against Tyler Glasnow last night. The hard-throwing right-hander was not operating in the zone all that much, and the Padres went down in order on 11 pitches in the first inning and on 16 pitches in the second.
They walked twice in the third, an inning that ended when Luis Arraez grounded out on the 10th pitch of his at-bat, pushing Glasnow to 57 pitches.
The Padres scored three runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases on a pair of walks around a single. With one out, Ramón Laureano grounded a sinker on the outer third of the plate through a hole on the right side to score the first two runs. Jake Cronenworth followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 3-0.
“You saw (Friday) night with Manny (Machado), guy in scoring position, he shortens up and lines the ball to center field,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the RBI single by Machado that drove in the Padres’ first run in the series opener. “And Laureano tonight shortens up — and he’s a dead pull guy — and blocked the ball the other way to drive in a couple runs. Just finding ways to create offense. And (the Padres pitchers) are good. So you have to take what the pitcher gives you and try to create something.
“You can’t always go for that big swing. You’ve got to kind of shorten up. I mean, we have it in there, and we do it at times. But just collectively, I just don’t see us doing that collectively. … So now it’s just kind of getting the guys that have played important ballgames to kind of wrap their head around helping the ballclub. Your stats are your stats, and you got to kind of just isolate that particular game. Whatever you have that night, you got to go with it. And I think good things will happen.”
Wow. That was out of the Mike Shildt/Victor Rodriguez handbook.
Now, let’s not get too carried away here. The Dodgers have scored more runs than any team in the major leagues, and 45% of their runs have been driven in by home runs.
But like the Padres always allude to, you can’t count on the homer. And you certainly can’t try to hit them.
“Sometimes it’s hard to kind of go out there and try to change who you are,” Rojas said. “We are who we are. We’ve got a lot of guys that can leave the ballpark and that can hit homers. But we all know too that we can play better baseball than the way that we’ve been playing. … I feel like the offense is kind of inconsistent at times. We can always get better. We all know we need to get better if we want to win games in a consistent way. We have to make an adjustment in-game that’s going to put us in a best position to get starters out of the game. Not just because the other manager wants to take him out of there. We need to force them out of the game. We need to start doing a better job of that.”
That does sound like the Padres at their best, which they have been far more lately.
Last night was the fourth time in the past five games — all victories — that the Padres have gotten the opposing starting pitcher out of the game before he completed five innings.
They scored three runs in the fourth inning last night, two runs in the fourth inning Friday, two in the fourth and six in the fifth on Thursday, four in the third on Wednesday and two in the fourth on Tuesday.
“It’s just a good offensive approach all the way,” Shildt said. “I love the way our guys are getting better as the game goes, second time through (the order). There’s a lot of dedication and proper focus to that.”
The Dodgers seem as though they would like to try it.
Cortes steps up, waves off
In his first start with the Padres, on Aug. 6 in Arizona, Nestor Cortes allowed one run in each of the first two innings before making it two outs into the fifth without allowing another run.
In his next start, in San Francisco, he allowed a first-inning run before again getting two outs deep in the fifth with no more damage.
And in his third start, Monday at home against the Giants, Cortes surrendered four runs on three homers in the first inning and then yielded just three hits over the rest of an outing that lasted 5⅔ innings.
So pitching coach Ruben Niebla challenged him in recent days to come out with more intensity from the start last night.
Cortes did.
And he kept going after that, making it through five innings without allowing a baserunner for the first time in 92 career starts and not allowing a hit until Rojas’ one-out single in the sixth.
After Rojas’ hit, Niebla visited the mound.
Left-hander Adrian Morejón was warming up. Shohei Ohtani, who bats from the left side, was on deck.
There seemed little doubt Cortes was facing his last batter, No.9 hitter Buddy Kennedy.
“Obviously, with the situation of the game, 3-0, I gave up a base hit, top of the order coming up with the bullpen you have, it’s definitely normal,” Cortes said. “I look up and see Morejón warming up. I’m like, ‘All right. It’s cool. I get it.’”
But he also did the math.
“If I give up a base hit to the last hitter, then definitely Morejón was coming in,” Cortes said. “But I get the last hitter. Two outs. Worst that can happen is a two-run homer, and we’re still up 3-2.”
So as Shildt stepped out of the dugout to come get him, Cortes waved him off with two quick swipes of his glove. Shildt retreated.
“No disrespect,” Cortes said.
None taken.
“We love players with conviction,” Shildt said.
Cortes retired Ohtani on a fly ball to center field.
And with that, he completed his second start this season in which he threw six scoreless innings while allowing one hit.
The last time was his final start for the Brewers, on April 3 against the Reds. He was placed on the injured list three days later with a elbow flexor strain. He had just completed a rehab assignment when the Padres traded for him on July 31.
I touched on the trade and the expectations the Padres had for Cortes in my game story (here) from last night.
By the way, you should take some time to get to know Cortes by reading Annie Heilbrunn’s Q&A with him (here) that posted earlier this week.
Merrill’s sadness
The Padres put Jackson Merrill on the injured list yesterday, just before he missed his sixth consecutive game.
More than to gain an extra bench player they likely will not use, the move was made to take pressure off Merrill and let him focus on getting his left ankle healthy and returning next week in Minnesota. The Padres do expect he will come off the IL when he is eligible on Saturday.
“Frustrating, but whatever,” Merrill said last night. “Get better the next week and come back and dominate.”
Merrill rolled his ankle getting out of the batter’s box on a base hit in the ninth inning on Aug. 17 against the Dodgers. He played the entirety of the next game and started the following day’s game before being pulled following his second at-bat.
The Padres have described his injury as a bone bruise and ankle sprain.
This is Merrill’s third IL stint in 2025. He missed 24 games early in the season with a right hamstring strain and seven games in June after being concussed by a tag on a stolen base attempt.
“Yeah, it’s been really up and down,” Merrill said. “It’s all fluky. I don’t really think there’s much I can control besides just getting better. I’m not gonna look back at it or anything. I’m just gonna focus on the future right now.”
Merrill, who so overtly loves to play baseball just for the fun of it, is clearly struggling with his current inertia. Last night, he vacillated between appreciating what he is watching and expressing his sadness over having to watch.
“I still missed the last entire week, from Monday to now, so it sucks entirely,” he said. “But, you know, the team is rolling. I can’t complain. It’s fun to watch. … I mean, I love thinking about the bigger picture. But for me, I think about how we are right now and how I want to play right now. I think these are not must-win games, but they’re very fun games to play in. I was just really excited looking forward to this week. So it kind of sucks, but we’re winning. That’s all that matters.”
The Padres held off on shutting down Merrill because they hoped he could return sooner than the 10 days required by an IL stint, and they were not concerned by being a man short on the bench.
Since the trade deadline, Shildt has done far less substituting. In fact, his only in-game lineup maneuvers in the past five games have involved Bryce Johnson, who has pinch-run once and entered as a defensive replacement for Gavin Sheets the past four games.
It is not known who the Padres will recall. Left fielder Tirso Ornelas and infielder Mason McCoy are on the 40-man roster. Utility man Tyler Wade is not, and his being added would require an additional move to make room.
Three feat
Last night’s game was the Padres’ fifth this season in which they have had exactly three hits. They have won all five.
That is tied with the 1968 White Sox, 1968 Twins and 2014 Cardinals for most such wins in a season. The 1968 White Sox went 5-3, the ‘68 Twins 5-7 and 2014 Cardinals 5-4 in games in which they had three hits.
The 1951 Phillies (3-0) are the only team to have ever finish a season with as many as three wins without a loss in games in which they had three hits.
The previous 56 Padres teams were a combined 28-243 in games in which they had three hits.
Last night was the most runs the Padres have ever scored in a game in which they had no more than three hits.
Not happy
Jeremiah Estrada was steaming long after last night’s game ended.
He had exorcised a demon and then gotten burned.
“Taking a zero off the board, it’s annoying,” he said. “When you give up nine runs to one fricking team, it’s frustrating. You start to just — I’m still going to go out there and throw my same (stuff), but …”
With the Padres up 3-0, Estrada entered in the seventh inning and struck out the first batter he faced, Teoscar Hernandez, on three pitches.
That was significant for the mere fact Estrada did it and for how he did it. Hernandez had two home runs and three singles in five at-bats against Estrada this season. That included a homer in the seventh inning on Aug. 17 at Dodger Stadium that served as the deciding run in a 3-2 Dodgers victory.
Hernandez’s two homers came on fastballs. Estrada got him with a slider and two split finger fastballs last night.
His next pitch, to pinch-hitter Alex Freeland, was a fastball up in the zone, not even close to being the ball that it was called.
“I threw everything I needed to throw, and all of a sudden that happens,” Estrada said. “It changes the scenario.”
He ended up getting two misses and threw two more balls before Freeland fouled off an inside fastball and then homered to right field on a fastball at the top of the zone.
It was the ninth run Estrada has surrendered to the Dodgers in 5⅔ innings against them this season. He has surrendered 11 runs (eight earned) in his other 53 innings.
After getting the second out of the inning, Estrada was pulled for Adrian Morejón.
It was clear he didn’t take any solace in any part of his outing.
“I don’t like other people coming in for me,” he said.
The time has come
The Baseball Writers Association of America has overwhelmingly voted to create a new award — the Relief Pitcher of the Year Award.
It is about time.
A role that has become increasingly important is an afterthought — if it is thought of at all — when it comes to voting for awards.
Relief pitchers are perhaps the most fascinating of all ballplayers. They arguably have the hardest job. They have to stay ready almost every day to be one of the two most important people on the field at some point in a game, but they might go several days without it happening. When they are in the game, they are expected to be perfect.
The first RPOY Award will be handed out after the 2026 season.
It’s a shame that Jason Adam and Morejón will have to wait a year to battle for the award.
Here is a look at some of their stats this season (with their rank among qualifying MLB relievers in parentheses):
Tidbits
- Yu Darvish (six innings, one hit on Friday) and Cortes are the first opposing starting pitchers in nearly 119 years to allow the Dodgers no more than one hit over at least six scoreless innings in back-to-back games. The Dodgers were known as the Brooklyn Superbas then, and Stoney McGlyn (seven innings, one hit) of the Cardinals and Jack Pfiester (10 innings, one hit) of the Cubs accomplished the feat on Sept. 24 and 25, 1906.
- The five hits last night were the fewest in a game between the Padres and Dodgers since they combined for three hits on July 9, 2011. The Dodgers beat the Padres 2-1 when Juan Uribe doubled off Luke Gregerson with two outs in the ninth inning to break up a combined no-hitter and Dioner Navarro followed with a walk-off single.
- Last night was the 35th time this season that Padres pitchers have allowed one or zero runs in a game, tied with the Pirates for most in MLB.
- Fernando Tatis Jr. was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored for the second straight night. He has reached base multiple times in 30 of his past 47 games and his .419 on-base percentage in that span (since June 29) is fourth highest in the major leagues.
- Now, go back five days before that to June 24, and that would be the day Tatis hit his 17th home run of the season. He does not have one since, which makes today one month since he hit a homer.
- Tatis stole his 26th base last night, three shy of his career high set in 2023.
- Laureano was 1-for-2 with a walk and is batting .338 with a .977 OPS in his 21 games with the Padres. That is the 15th-highest OPS of any player in his first 21 games with the Padres and the third highest of any player who joined the team in July (before the trade deadline).
- The Padres have won seven of their past eight series. That is their best stretch since they won nine of 10 series coming out of the All-Star break last year. In two seasons under Shildt, the Padres have a .670 winning percentage after the All-Star break.
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.