Dodgers' celebration on hold after rainy-day loss in SD

SAN DIEGO -- The steady drizzle at Petco Park on Friday night suggested autumn. Perhaps October.

The baseball did, too.

The Dodgers and Padres locked in a back-and-forth battle for 10 innings in the series opener, with San Diego pulling out a 5-4 victory on Jake Cronenworth’s RBI single off Heath Hembree. Nonetheless, the Dodgers continued onward to becoming the first team to clinch a spot in the 2022 MLB postseason.

• Box score

The Brewers’ loss to the Reds on Friday means the Dodgers still could clinch their 10th straight postseason berth on Saturday if they win and Milwaukee loses.

The stretch outlook:

• Games remaining: 25
• Magic number for playoff berth: 2
• Magic number for NL West title: 6

“I don’t think where we’re at in the standings, or lack of edge, had any bearing on the result of tonight’s game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Certainly, the Padres have more urgency while in a three-way battle for the last two NL Wild Card spots. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have the luxury of healing injuries: After the game became a bullpen battle, Blake Treinen was not used because of “a little bit of arm soreness,” Roberts said.

So there’s a balance of strategizing for the best version of the Dodgers come October and continuing to compete throughout September.

“We expect to win every time we walk on the field,” said Freddie Freeman, who opened the scoring with a 446-foot home run in the first inning. “If you let up the gas at any point, it’s really hard to turn it back on.”

Even in defeat, the Dodgers showed competitive moments that had hints of the postseason:

May’s 82-pitch outing
Dustin May saw the Padres for the second straight start, and he was better than his rough outing last week in L.A.: five innings, five hits, four runs (three earned), three walks and three strikeouts. He pitched in tough conditions after the start of the game was delayed 45 minutes by rain, and the Padres made him work. Padres batters swung at only four pitches outside the strike zone, per pitch tracking -- and only one in the first four innings.

“It was definitely a step in the right direction from the last one,” May said.

With two electric starts, one rough start and one somewhere in between since May’s return from Tommy John surgery, it remains to be seen which version the Dodgers can expect come October.

“It’s hard to judge anything after four starts, after missing 18 months, Freeman said. “We’re just happy he’s back. He’s getting some innings under his belt, some high-leverage, high-intensity innings.”

Thompson’s feel-good home run
Trayce Thompson, designated for assignment by the Padres in May, continued to redefine himself from fill-in to someone who can be expected to get significant postseason at-bats.

Thompson’s solo home run in the fifth inning came on a cut fastball from a tough right-hander, Mike Clevinger. That continued the outfielder’s positive trend in righty-righty matchups. Seven of his nine homers this year have come off righties. He has the best reverse platoon numbers of his career: a slash line of .323/.427/.626.

Freeman gets all of it
Freeman has made good on his $162 million contract in Year 1 of his six-year deal, leading MLB in hits (174) and doubles (44) while batting .325. He’s steady more than flashy, but that was not the case Friday.

With rain still falling, Freeman attacked a 3-1 fastball from Clevinger and launched it to the second deck of “the beach” area behind the right-center-field fence. Not only did it travel a projected 446 feet, per Statcast, but it had exit velocity of 111.1 mph, his second-hardest-hit homer as a Dodger, behind only 112.3 mph off former teammate Charlie Morton of the Braves in April.

“It wasn’t raining too hard,” Freeman said. “The only time it bothers you is if it’s dripping off the helmet. It wasn’t doing that much tonight. I’m not used to Southern California rain, but I think a lot of us needed it.”