SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers turned a close game into a laugher with a nine-run sixth inning, en route to a 15-3 victory over the Padres on Saturday night.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park, where San Diego saw its four-game winning streak snapped in emphatic fashion:
Vásquez just doesn’t have it right now
In the early part of the season, Randy Vásquez was perhaps the Padres’ most valuable starter. He routinely worked deep into games and carried a 2.68 ERA into his May 20 start against the Dodgers.
But his seven starts since have gone off the rails. In that span, Vásquez has a 6.59 ERA and has worked more than five innings just once.
Before his outing on Saturday, the Padres bumped him back in the rotation by a couple days, giving him a bit of a breather. They also employed an opener strategy, using lefty Kyle Hart for the first two innings. (More on that later.)
None of it worked. Vásquez simply hasn’t been good enough lately, and the explanation is a straightforward one:
“It’s just the location of my pitches,” Vásquez said, through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I’m paying for it at the end of the day.”
Indeed, Vásquez is not missing bats like he used to, and his pitches are too hittable in the strike zone. In the top of the sixth, the Dodgers took full advantage, scoring seven runs -- five of them earned -- against Vásquez, with a pair of home runs.
Next up? Vásquez is lined up to face L.A. again in the opener of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
“Just keep working,” Vásquez said. “Just keep working … to make sure that I have all the confidence in the world to come back in the next start.”
That opener strategy was … odd
OK, maybe the strategy itself wasn’t odd. But the execution of the strategy certainly was.
Prior to the game, manager Craig Stammen noted that he preferred Hart for the first inning or two. That way, Vásquez’s exposure to the top of the Dodgers’ lineup would be limited. Sensible enough -- if you assume the lefty Hart is capable of handling Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
Hart did exactly that in a 1-2-3 first. Then, he emerged for the second inning -- and found himself in trouble. All the while, Vásquez was getting loose in the bullpen. Evidently, Stammen never found the right moment to call for Vásquez.
“Randy was definitely available to come in in that inning,” Stammen said. “But Kyle ended up getting out of that inning just fine.”
But Hart surrendered a run, and he faced six Dodgers in the frame. Which set up Vásquez to enter in the third and face the top of the L.A. lineup -- precisely what the Padres were hoping to avoid.
Perhaps there just wasn’t an obvious moment to insert Vásquez during the second inning. (Using him to start the second against Mookie Betts would’ve made sense, but Stammen insisted afterward that he wanted multiple innings from Hart.) Still, the fact that Vásquez’s night began against Ohtani and the top of the order was a clear indication that the Padres’ plan backfired.
The Padres miss Jake Cronenworth at second
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been better than expected at second base. But then you’re losing his Platinum Glove in right field. Sung-Mun Song has been good defensively. But you’re usually not getting enough offense from him. Will Wagner? He looks like he could be a useful lefty-hitting bench bat. But as the regular second baseman? His glove is suspect.
It came back to bite the Padres in a big spot on Saturday. Gavin Sheets tied the game at 1 with a booming solo home run in the fifth. But Wagner booted a routine grounder in the top of the sixth, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
The floodgates opened. And, yes, it’s unfair to pin all of that on Wagner. Vásquez completely unraveled, and only two of the runs charged to him were unearned. But it was a reminder that the Padres miss Jake Cronenworth. Speaking of which …
Cronenworth, at long last, is on his way back. He began a rehab stint with Triple-A El Paso on Friday, after passing concussion protocols. He’ll need a buildup period. But he should be back in the San Diego lineup before the All-Star break. The Padres need him.