Maybe the Dodgers had too many margaritas.
Less than 24 hours after throwing the first combined no-hitter in franchise history, the Dodgers bullpen returned to their prior form, and the San Diego Padres came from behind to beat Los Angeles, 7-4, on Cinco de Mayo in Monterrey, Mexico.
The celebration from Friday night's no-hitter was short-lived as the back-and-forth battle began with a leadoff triple by Travis Jankowski to guarantee that the Padres would not be no-hit on back-to-back nights.
One pitch later, San Diego scored their first runs of the season as Eric Hosmer hit a two-run home run off Kenta Maeda.
Matt Kemp kicked off the comeback in the top half of the second with a leadoff home run off Bryan Mitchell.
Five batters later, Chris Taylor tied the game with an RBI single off Mitchell.
The Dodgers took the lead in the top of the third as Kemp continued his hot-hitting against his former team with an RBI single that chased Mitchell from the game.
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Mitchell did not factor in the decision, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in just 2 and 1/3 innings.
San Diego tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, but Taylor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth to put L.A. back in front, 4-3.
"I thought we had a chance to break the game open and didn't capitalize," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "We didn't convert when we had the chances. The at-bats in the seventh and eighth went south."
The tables turned in the bottom half of the sixth as Josh Fields surrendered his third home run in his last four appearances, this time a go-ahead two-run shot off the bat of Raffy Lopez that put the Padres in front for good.
San Diego scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth off relief pitcher Daniel Hudson as the Dodgers bullpen allowed four runs in four innings one day after not allowing a hit in the first no-hitter pitched outside the United States or Canada.
"In the last ten days when they struggled, they got behind hitters and walks," said Roberts of the bullpen. "The three days when they pitched well, they got ahead of hitters and didn't walk them. The stuff is there, it's the same guys. It's a simple formula."
The loss snapped the Dodgers four-game winning streak against the Padres this season.
Despite the loss, the Dodgers have won 89 games against the Padres since 2011, the most by any team in MLB against a single opponent over that span.
The Perfect Game
The Dodgers no-hitter in Monterrey, Mexico on Friday night reminded many fans of the 1957 Monterrey Little League World Series Championship team. That team, known as the Little Giants, threw a perfect game against La Mesa, CA in the championship in 1957.
1957 Little League World Series was won by Monterrey Mexico first time any teams from outside of the United States were allowed in the game. They defeated La Mesa California #MonterreyMexico #CincoDeMayo #Dodgers ��������— Allison McHaney (@dadtoalli) May 5, 2018
Up Next:
Ross Stripling will make another spot start on Sunday in the rubber match against LHP Eric Lauer for the Padres. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10PM PST.
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