Padres fight back but can't solve Dodgers in Game 1

LOS ANGELES -- The Padres and Dodgers played six series during the regular season, and the Dodgers won all six of them. Some were lopsided. Some, like Tuesday night, saw the Padres briefly threaten to overturn that balance. But try as they may, this rivalry was a lopsided one.

Of course, back then, the Padres had the luxury of time. Their season didn’t hinge on those matchups. They simply needed to win enough games elsewhere, then find a way to beat L.A. come October.

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Well, it’s October. And the Padres are officially running out of time to solve the Dodgers.

They scraped. They clawed. They fought. And they still lost Game 1 of the National League Division Series, 5-3, on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium -- a game that felt jarringly familiar to so many others in 2022.

“We came up a little short,” said Padres third baseman Manny Machado. “We'll bounce back tomorrow. ... You at least want to take one on the road. We'll put this one behind us and come out tomorrow, keep competing like we've been doing all year.”

In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams that lost Game 1 on the road have advanced 13 of 47 times (28%). The Padres will take their chances with ace Yu Darvish on the mound for Game 2 on Wednesday night.

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“We always feel good when Yu is on the mound,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin. “He has been about as consistent as any starter in the National League this year, so we'll feel good going into the game.”

Tuesday’s Game 1 marked the toughest pitching matchup of the bunch for the Padres. They were underdogs in the NLDS anyway, but after a grind of a three-game Wild Card Series against the Mets, they were forced to turn to No. 4 starter Mike Clevinger in Game 1. The Dodgers countered with NL ERA champ Julio Urías.

Clevinger was hit hard from the very beginning, and he lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) in his shortest start since he left Game 1 of the 2020 NLDS with the injury that ultimately led to his Tommy John surgery.

“I didn’t feel too great,” Clevinger said. “This lineup is disciplined. As good as they are, you’ve got to be on your game. I just didn’t have it tonight.”

Urías, meanwhile, stymied the Padres’ bats for four innings, but they got to him in the fifth for three runs. Wil Myers’ solo homer served as the catalyst. Both Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim followed with hits and came around to score.

The Padres had chances after that, too. They put the first two men aboard in the sixth, when Melvin rolled the dice, opting to pinch-hit Josh Bell for Brandon Drury against Dodgers righty Evan Phillips.

Bell struck out, and Myers followed by hitting into a double play. The Padres later brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh and ninth innings, to no avail.

“We had a chance in the latter innings to win this game,” Melvin said. “I think everybody is pretty eager to get back out here again.”

Perhaps there’s some solace the Padres can take in that pitching mismatch. After Clevinger’s exit, their bullpen threw 5 1/3 scoreless frames. Pierce Johnson and Tim Hill were particularly effective -- an encouraging sign for a bullpen that needed some relievers to step up in the middle innings. Johnson faced six Dodgers and retired all six, and Hill worked through the heart of the order without a blemish in the seventh.

“They were fantastic,” Melvin said of his bullpen. “It's 5-0, and all of a sudden it's 5-3, and our guys came in and shut it down. We got the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning. No moral victories, but the latter part of the game was better than the first part for us.”

The next three starting-pitching matchups won’t be nearly so lopsided. Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove pitched the Padres this far, after all.

“We have to be prepared for Yu tomorrow,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There's going to be a lot of spin, and we have our work cut out.”

So do the Padres, who face Clayton Kershaw and simply cannot afford to fall into an 0-2 hole against a team that won 111 games.

“Huge game -- we need to win it,” Myers said. “It'd be good to go 1-1 here and get back home.”

Easier said than done. These two teams have played 29 games since the 2021 All-Star break, and the Padres have won only five of them.

“We've got to do the little things, the big things,” center fielder Trent Grisham said. “Getting hits in big situations. Getting outs in big situations. They're human over there, too.”

The Padres are running out of time to prove it.