With the Los Angeles Dodgers solidifying their series sweep behind a 4-0 victory on Sunday, the San Diego Padres have now lost 11 consecutive regular season series against them.
After taking the series opener at Petco Park on May 5, the Padres have lost five consecutive games to the Dodgers. L.A. has not dropped a series to the Padres since June of the 2021 season.
Their early success this year comes on the heels of going 14-5 against the Padres last season. Of course, it was the Padres who still emerged victorious in a tightly-contested National League Division Series last October.
But as the Padres struggle to against the Dodgers, Joe Musgrove voiced his frustration with the current state of affairs and recent history, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic:
“I’m f—ing tired of hearing that s–t, to be honest, man,” Joe Musgrove said as he stood in visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium after Saturday’s game. “I mean, it’s baseball. These guys are a good team. We go up there, we’re not playing sloppy, bad baseball. We’re losing by a run or two, so we’re in games. But I think we, as a group in here, got to stop talking about these guys like they’re that unbeatable force. You know, we beat these guys in the playoffs. We beat them in big situations. We’re just not playing very well right now. So, we got to play better baseball.”
Musgrove said the blame for the Padres’ poor regular season performance against the Dodgers is due to multiple factors, including not delivering in key moments:
“We feel like we have a better team,” Musgrove said. “We’re just not playing to our capabilities right now. And it’s on both sides of the ball. We’re giving up timely hits to their hitters, and we’re not getting the timely hits on our side.”
Musgrove may have a point when it comes to the Padres offensive side, but the pitching hasn’t been terrible from the club. On Sunday, all four of the Dodgers’ runs came from only two swings of the bat — Mookie Betts’ home run and Miguel Vargas’ double.
Against a deep lineup with the likes of Betts, Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez and Max Muncy, there’s little margin for error.
Musgrove experienced some of that himself as he allowed four runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings. He was hurt by the Padres not catching a routine fly ball, but also didn’t aid matters by hanging an 0-2 pitch to Martinez, which he slugged for a three-run homer in the first inning.
This is not the first time Musgrove made noteworthy comments in regard to the Dodgers, as he previously expressed hope the Padres’ NLDS win marked the start of a shift in the division.
Dodgers offense shines, Padres struggle
On first glance, the number of hits would make it seem like both offenses were on par with each other, but there are other key statistics that set them apart: total bases and runs scored.
The Padres totaled four runs in weekend series, compared to 16 for the Dodgers. San Diego did come close in terms of hits with 16 to the Dodgers’ 18.
But in terms of total bases, the difference becomes a little starker — the Padres had 28 while the Dodgers had 36. The Padres’ clutch hitting, or lack thereof, was evident in every game at Dodger Stadium.
The Padres also seem to have a hard time striking Dodgers out. The Padres have the second-lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.8) against the Dodgers of any team they’ve faced this season.
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