The San Diego Padres experienced a tough defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, falling in extra innings to their National League West rivals.
The atmosphere at Petco Park was charged for the series opener, and the game lived up to the excitement, with a total of 12 runs scored in the first half. The score was tied at 6-6 until the 10th inning when the Dodgers brought in two more runs.
Young talent Jackson Merrill managed to drive in a run, narrowing the score to 8-7 and advancing to second base, but the Padres couldn’t get him home and ended up losing the game.
After the game, Dodgers catcher Will Smith released a statement with a subtle message directed at the Padres.
Before the matchup, there was a lot of talk about the rivalry between the Dodgers and Padres, but Smith didn’t sense any heightened intensity on Monday compared to a typical regular season game.
“It felt like just another game in June,” Smith shared with reporters following the game.
Smith went 1-for-4 in Monday’s series opener, hitting a two-run homer and adding a sacrifice fly.
While Smith may view the regular season series differently, the Padres feel they proved their ability to compete with the reigning World Series champions and believe they are on par with their NL West rivals.
Padres manager Mike Shildt expressed a sense of optimism after the game, confident that the Padres will have more opportunities to succeed in tight matches.
“They punched, we punched,” Shildt remarked. “It’s the typical game we have against them. And there are many more to come. … They executed and got one more hit in the 10th.”
San Diego will host the second game of the three-game series on Tuesday, likely bringing more excitement from both teams.
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