LOS ANGELES – The 100.5 mph comebacker that hit him in the back had to hurt. But the blown save is going to sting too.
Handed a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon, Craig Kimbrel couldn’t hold it as the San Diego Padres rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers.
The loss snapped a four-game Dodgers’ winning streak and kept them from completing a four-game sweep of the Padres. It was just the second Padres victory in the past 16 meetings between the two teams.
“You can look at it and say the ball to the back affected him. He’s not gonna say that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But today, we just didn’t finish them. We’ll continue to re-asses and re-evaluate.”
Kimbrel struck out Manny Machado to start the ninth. Machado had gone the extra mile(s) to play in this series, driving from Arizona to minimize swelling in his injured ankle. But he went 2 for 13 with eight strikeouts against the Dodgers.
Kimbrel wouldn’t retire another batter.
Jake Cronenworth followed with the comebacker off Kimbrel’s back, beating the throw to first base when Kimbrel tried to scramble and make a play.
“It squared him up pretty good,” Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes said. “He tried to make a play on it. But it got him pretty good.”
After the game, Roberts said the ball hit Kimbrel “right below the scapula.” Preliminary scans were negative.
After a brief check by Roberts and a trainer, Kimbrel stayed in the game. But he fell behind 2-and-0 to Luke Voit who launched a fastball deep to left field. The ball bounced off the top of the bullpen gate, just out of Gavin Lux’s reach, for a game-tying RBI double.
Eric Hosmer then gave the Padres their first lead since the first inning of the series with an RBI single to right field. That drove Kimbrel from the game. Yency Almonte served up a two-run home run to Ha-Seong Kim in his wake.
“A guy like that, when he says he’s good to go and throws some pitches, we liked what we saw,” Roberts said.
The blown save was only Kimbrel’s third in 17 opportunities. But it has been a bumpy ride. His ERA ballooned to 4.78 Sunday and 1-2-3 innings like he turned in Thursday and Friday have been the exception. He has allowed runs more often than not (eight of his past 15 appearances) with an ERA of 6.27 and 26 baserunners allowed in 14 1/3 innings over that time.
“Right now, I’m not even considering that. I think he’s earned that,” Roberts said when asked if Kimbrel’s role might need to change. “Also just given where our bullpen is at (with Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson injured) and who we have, to have the ability to deploy guys in different spots I think has value as well. I think the net of still having Craig as our closer is still pretty easy.”
The Padres’ four-run ninth erased another dominant effort by Clayton Kershaw against them. After his seven scoreless innings Sunday, Kershaw has a 2.03 ERA in 45 career starts against them.
Kershaw allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out seven and throwing a season-high 98 pitches.
Related Articles
Mookie Betts returns to a reconfigured Dodgers’ lineup
Dodgers clobber Yu Darvish early, win third straight over Padres
Dodgers ready to welcome Mookie Betts back from injured list
Tony Gonsolin goes deep in Dodgers’ victory over Padres
Ian Gibaut’s whirlwind week winds its way to Chavez Ravine
The Padres got just one runner past first base against Kershaw. Jose Azocar led off the third inning with a double and moved to third on a ground out. With the infield in, Azocar bolted for home on Machado’s ground ball to shortstop Trea Turner. Turner’s throw home easily beat Azocar.
But Kershaw spent most of that time on a 1-0 tightrope.
The Dodgers’ reconfigured lineup featuring Mookie Betts (fresh off the Injured List) followed by Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman clicked right away with Betts and Turner hitting back-to-back doubles to produce a run in the first inning.
Those two were on base three times each in the first four innings but couldn’t score again. After Betts drew a two-out walk in the fourth inning and Turner was hit by a pitch, Freeman lined a single into left field.
Third-base coach Dino Ebel sent Betts but he was an easy out, pulling up short and letting Padres catcher Jorge Alfaro tag him rather than risk aggravating the still-healing cracked rib on his right side.
“The throw beat him by a good bit. It was a great send,” Roberts said. “It’s got to still be a good throw. And I don’t think he wants to take on Alfaro. I think he made the right decision.”
The Dodgers didn’t threaten again until the bottom of the ninth. Betts doubled with one out and moved to third on Trea Turner’s single. Freeman drove him home with a sacrifice fly but Will Smith bounced out to end the game.
“We had a great series,” Kershaw said. “I think, obviously, we would have loved to win this one, but three out of four against the second-place team is important and we’ll take that.”