SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The pitching from the San Diego Padres (43-37) continues to be a major reason why they sit six games over .500 after defeating the LA Dodgers (52-30) 7-1 on Friday night.
Pitching, along with the bat of Ty France, who has been one of the Padres' most consistent hitters this season, led the way.
It started with Walker Buehler, who got his first chance to face his former team while wearing a Padres uniform.
Before Friday night's game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked whether he thought Buehler would enjoy beating LA.
"He would love nothing more than to shove it up our you know what,” Roberts said.
Buehler was asked after the game about Roberts' comments. He made it clear he has “no bad blood” toward the organization, loved his time in Los Angeles, and ended his Dodgers career on a high note by recording the final out of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees. Then his competitive side took over.
“I want to kick everyone's ass,” Buehler said. “I want to beat everyone, especially in the division, and especially a team that has been so successful against the organization I'm with now. I want to be a part of turning that around, and I certainly don't want to lose to them. Doc is not wrong.”
Buehler pitched 5.1 innings, allowing three hits, one earned run, three walks, and striking out five on 74 pitches. Padres manager Craig Stammen felt it was the right time to turn the game over to the bullpen.
“He likes to let me know he's not happy on the mound, and then when we get back in the dugout, he's already cooled off,” Stammen said.
The Padres starter has embraced his new role.
“I think I've kind of changed from trying to throw 120 pitches and all that to in owning the game to just kind of trying to get through the five to six innings and hand it off to our bullpen,” Buehler said. “Obviously we've a lot of super talented guys back there so feel good about it.”
Buehler has been the Padres' best pitcher in June. Across five starts, he has thrown 26.1 innings, allowed five earned runs, posted a 1.71 ERA, struck out 27, and walked just eight. It marks the first time he has recorded a sub-2.00 ERA in a single month since August 2021.
“It’s good to get the first one in this uniform at home, and we'll see what kind of happens on the road,” Buehler said. “Haven't thrown to Dodger Stadium yet, which will be kind of a different thing.”
The resurgence of Buehler may be real.
“He’s just got balls,” Jackson Merrill said. “He goes out there and competes his ass off, that's all we asked for. So props to him.”
Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when he drove Buehler's first pitch to left field, just beyond the outstretched glove of Samad Taylor. It was Betts' 10th home run of the season and gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki breezed through the first inning but ran into trouble in the second. He walked Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets to begin the inning. After a Xander Bogaerts lineout, France turned on a Sasaki slider and launched a three-run home run to left field, giving the Padres a 3-1 lead.
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Jun 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Ty France (25) celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.
France has been one of the hottest hitters in the Padres lineup. His second-inning homer was his fourth in seven games and his 10th of the season.
The Padres' struggles with runners in scoring position surfaced again.
In the bottom of the fourth, Machado led off with a double to center field. Sheets fouled out to third, Bogaerts flew out to right, France was hit by a Sasaki pitch, and Will Wagner walked to load the bases. Catcher Rodolfo Durán then grounded out to end the inning.
“Ty obviously got hit on the hand, and then his slide late in the game, kind of jammed his hand up the same hand, so he was feeling a little tender in that area,” Stammen said. “So we'll have to evaluate him tonight.”
Things didn't improve in the fifth. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a double, and after Taylor walked, Merrill grounded into a fielder's choice but reached safely as Taylor was forced out at second. Machado drew another walk to load the bases, but Sheets grounded into an inning-ending double play.
It was the second time the Padres loaded the bases but failed to capitalize.
In the top of the eighth, reliever Adrián Morejón retired Shohei Ohtani on the first pitch, fielding a comebacker and throwing him out at first. He then allowed back-to-back hits to Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman before getting Betts to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“Good, good,”Morejón said in Spanish about getting out of the inning. “Ultimately, it’s what I always say in those situations: I don’t try to do too much or throw any harder; I just try to execute my pitches and let things work out well, like they did today.”
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Jun 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Adrian Morejon (50) celebrates after pitching during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.
The Padres finally broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth. After Machado flew out, Sheets singled to left before Bogaerts and France each drew a walk to load the bases. Sung-mun Song lined a single up the middle, scoring Jase Bowen, who had entered as a pinch-runner for Sheets, and Bogaerts. Durán followed with an RBI single to score Song, and Tatis Jr. capped the inning with an RBI single that plated Durán, extending the lead to 7-1 and putting away their NL West rivals.
“That's what we do,” Merrill said. “We're late inning team, no surprise from us, just waiting for it to happen.”
Game 2 of the series between the Padres and Dodgers continues Saturday as Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes on Randy Vásquez at 5:40 p.m.