Dodgers 7, Padres 3: Robbie Erlin has a bad inning

This game really threw me for a loop. First I had to adjust to these godawful uniforms. My original instinct was to assume the fever that’s kept me from blogging the last few days was back and messing with my vision. I didn’t call 911, as I realized my fever dreams aren’t usually this bad. After that, I had to wrap my mind around a Padres lead. Thankfully, Robbie Erlin’s awful fifth inning made this afternoon’s game much more believable.

The Padres offense wasn’t exactly bad, going 15-for-41 with two homers, a triple, and a double, but they struck out a dozen times while only walking once. And all those hits don’t amount to much when you leave twelve men on base and go just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

But things really did start well! Franmil Reyes lead off the second with his 11th bomb of the year. That doesn’t sound all that impressive until you remember that La Mole hasn’t even played 60 games this season. Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe doubled the Friars’ lead in the third. Wil hit a triple to right, and Hunter brought him home on a single to left.

Going into the bottom of the fifth, Robbie Erlin looked to be in good shape. He had blanked the Dodgers for four innings and was about to see the bottom of their order. Yasiel Puig popped out, and Erlin fanned Austin Barnes on three pitches, bringing pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu to the plate. He singled. And then Erlin walked Brian Dozier, and just like that, the Padres starter began to fall apart. Justin Turner lined a double into the left field corner, plating both runners to tie the game. Manny Machado put LA on top with a homer, and Erlin finally got pulled after giving up singles to the next two batters.

Phil Maton wasn’t any better than Erlin. He did end the fifth inning without further damage, but walked the only two batters he saw in the sixth. They would both score after advancing on a wild pitch from Robert Stock and a single by... oh goddamnit it was Justin Turner again. That ginger schmuck was bad news for the Friars, even before he racked up his fifth and final RBI of the day in the eighth.

Hunter Renfroe went yard in the ninth, but it was way too little, way too late.

The Friars get an off day tomorrow. They host a quick two-game series against the Vedder Cup rival Mariners starting Tuesday evening. Jacob Nix will have the first pitch at 7:10 PM.