SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers arrived at Petco Park looking untouchable.
They had just steamrolled the Angels over the weekend, sweeping the Freeway Series while outscoring them 31-3 in three games.
Then Monday night happened.
In a game that looked and felt like October baseball in mid-May, the Padres reminded the Dodgers, and maybe the rest of the National League, that none of what happened against the Angels mattered once the first pitch was thrown at Petco Park. One mistake. One swing. One missed opportunity. That was the difference in San Diego’s 1-0 victory over the Dodgers, a win that pushed the Padres a half-game ahead in the NL West standings.
And the frustrating part for the Dodgers? Yoshinobu Yamamoto was good enough to win.
Actually, he was more than good enough.
Outside of one splitter that stayed elevated for Miguel Andújar in the first inning, Yamamoto delivered one of his sharpest outings of the season: seven innings, three hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts and 107 pitches in a classic pitchers’ duel against Michael King.
But for Yamamoto, the opening inning continues to haunt him.
On the 10th pitch of the game, Yamamoto got ahead of Andújar with two strikes before hanging a 92 mph splitter over the plate. Andújar didn’t miss it, launching it into the seats for his fourth homer of the season and what turned out to be the game’s only run.
That trend is becoming impossible to ignore. Yamamoto allowed five home runs after getting to two strikes all of last season. He already has five this year.
“That specific at-bat, I think I was just pressing a bit,” Yamamoto said afterward. “But after that, from getting into the second inning, I think I was getting to my rhythm.”
He certainly did.
From the second inning on, Yamamoto looked every bit like the ace the Dodgers expected after his World Series MVP run. His splitter regained its bite. His command sharpened. His tempo settled. He retired hitters with efficiency and conviction.
But the Dodgers’ offense never rewarded him.
And that’s where this loss becomes difficult to stomach for the Dodgers.
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King (34) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.
Because while Michael King was excellent, seven shutout innings, four hits, nine strikeouts, the Dodgers still had chances. Enough chances to steal this game anyway.
The biggest turning point came in the sixth inning.
With two outs, Shohei Ohtani chopped a swinging bunt that should have ended the inning harmlessly. Instead, the Padres threw the ball away trying to get Ohtani at first, and suddenly Hyeseong Kim was flying around third base with a chance to tie the game.
But third base coach Dino Ebel threw up the stop sign late.
Kim slammed on the brakes and held at third while Ohtani held at first. The Dodgers had runners on first and third with two outs and Mookie Betts coming to the plate.
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel (91) holds shortstop Hyeseong Kim (6) at third base during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
On paper, it still looked like a golden opportunity.
Instead, Betts popped up on the very first pitch he saw from King, ending the inning immediately.
After the game, Dave Roberts defended Ebel’s decision.
“I’m definitely not going to second-guess it,” Roberts said. “It’s unfortunate, two outs. Obviously if we’d have known different, he probably would’ve done something different. But that’s a hard one.”
And Roberts is probably right.
It’s easy to focus on the stop sign because the Dodgers lost by one run. It’s easy to wonder why Kim, arguably the fastest player on the roster, wasn’t sent home on an errant throw rolling all the way into right field.
But that moment alone did not lose the Dodgers this game. The offense had too many other chances it failed to cash in.
Betts, specifically, had two nearly identical opportunities to change the night. In the sixth inning, he stranded runners at second and third with the first-pitch popup.
Then in the eighth inning, the exact same scenario unfolded again: Ohtani on first, Kim at third, two outs, Dodgers trailing 1-0.
This time, Betts grounded out. Two chances. Same situation. Same result.
And then came the ninth inning, which somehow felt even more deflating.
Padres closer Mason Miller entered looking vulnerable immediately. Freddie Freeman worked a five-pitch walk to open the inning before Roberts inserted Alex Call as a pinch runner. Miller then lost the zone completely, walking Kyle Tucker and suddenly putting the tying and go-ahead runs aboard with nobody out.
For a moment, it felt like the Dodgers were about to escape.
Instead, the at-bats unraveled.
Will Smith flew out to center. Max Muncy froze on three straight pitches for a strikeout looking. Andy Pages rolled a ground ball to Manny Machado to end the game.
That was it. Five hits total. Seven runners left on base. An ugly 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
The Dodgers wasted a dominant outing from Yamamoto because the offense that looked unstoppable all weekend suddenly disappeared when the game tightened. That’s baseball, especially against a team like San Diego.
Now they’ll try to reset Tuesday night behind Emmet Sheehan as they attempt to even the series at Petco Park.