With injuries mounting the Los Angeles Dodgers were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle when they called up one of the fabulous Baker boys from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Scott Baker, 33, made his first major league start since 2011 and was solid in his Dodgers debut, allowing three runs on four hits in seven innings.
"I thought he was good," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "He gave us a chance to win and that's what we ask of all our starters."
Two of those hits were home runs however and the Padres defeated the Dodgers 3-1 to snap San Diego's four-game losing streak.
Alexi Amarista and Derek Norris went deep for the Padres and Brandon Morrow picked up his first win of the season holding the Dodgers to just one run through seven strong innings.
Morrow (1-0) pitched his best game of the season for San Diego allowing one home run on just five hits while striking out four. Both Morrow and Norris were acquired this winter as part of the revamped roster that is the 2015 Padres.
The only offense the Dodgers could muster came from the hot-hitting bat of Alex Guerrero. An early rookie of the year candidate, Guerrero leads the team in batting average, and is second in hits, homers and RBIs. What makes his numbers even more eye-popping is he has done it in a reserve role on the team and with just 22 at-bats.
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It was a tough luck loss for Baker (0-1) who pitched well in his Dodgers debut, albeit for just a few mistakes throughout the game.
One of those mistakes came in the third inning when Baker left a 3-2 pitch up in the zone to Amarista, who led off third inning and put the Padres on the board 1-0.
"I was a little jumpy at first, but I feel like I settled in there," said Baker. "There's a couple pitches I wish I could have back."
When asked after the game if he thought he had done enough to earn a permanent spot in the Dodgers rotation, Baker left that up to the organization.
"That's a little above my pay grade," joked Baker. "I'm going to give it my all no matter where it's at. I'm excited for the opportunity and the rest is up to them."
After an RBI single by Norris in the fourth, the former Oakland A's catcher hit a hanging curve into the left field porch for his first homer of the season. Norris carried the Padres offensively going 2-for-3 with a double, home run and two RBIs.
After hitting seven home runs the previous night, the two teams that lead the NL West combined for three on Sunday. In total, they've hit 10 homers in the past two games and 11 in the three game series.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save of the season.
Game Notes:
Yasiel Puig and Joel Peralta were placed on the 15-day DL before the game. Sunday's starter Scott Baker and Carlos Frias took their place on the 25 man roster.
