After being humbled by the Dodgers on Opening Day, the San Diego Padres got their sweet revenge by coming away with an impressive 4-0 shutout victory on Tuesday.
Southpaw Clayton Richard pitched lights-out that evening, allowing only five Dodgers singles across eight scoreless innings. As a whole, San Diego simply had a well-rounded effort beyond the mound as well, with the team racking up 11 hits and converting four double plays.
The Padres will now turn to Trevor Cahill (4-4, 2.74 ERA in 2016) to pick up where Richard left off. Cahill served as a reliever for the Cubs for the past two seasons, and San Diego appears to have seen enough improvements from him as to earn a starting role in the team this season. The eight-year veteran has faced the Dodgers more times than any other team in his career, having posted a decent 3.86 ERA in 20 starts.
Cahill’s familiarity with the Dodgers is indeed a positive, but its the Padres themselves that worry us the most. Not counting Tuesday’s win, they’ve actually lost six of the last seven games in Dodger Stadium against their NL West rivals.
Getting blanked by the Padres after putting up 13 runs in the season-opener has got to sting for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perhaps they partied too hard after such an explosive start that they wrongfully underestimated their division’s worst team from the previous season.
Reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, who hit a homer and drove in three runs on Opening Day, went 0-for-4 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Joc Pederson didn’t play in the loss, and maybe manager Dave Roberts should’ve included him in the starting lineup after Pederson connected on a grand slam in the opener.
This shouldn’t be the case on Wednesday, especially with Adrian Gonzalez getting to face Cahill again. In 27 plate appearances, Gonzalez has two home runs and nine RBIs with a superb .407 batting average against the Padres righty.
Not only that, but Rich Hill (3-2, 1.83 ERA in six starts for LA last season after being acquired by the team from the Oakland A’s) will have a fresh start to work with after a solid 2016 campaign. He’s only 1-3 with a 5.75 ERA in four-career starts against the Padres, though, but he’s also held the entire team to just a .216 batting average.
Only five San Diego players in this year’s roster have faced Hill before, combining for 11 at-bats with nary a run nor a hit allowed. That being said, we expect both the 37-year-old veteran and the Dodgers’ hitters to get on the same page and bounce back from Tuesday’s baffling loss.
Writer’s Prediction
The Dodgers (-260) take the third round against the Padres, 5-1.
