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Banged-up and skidding Padres to battle Shohei Ohtani-less Dodgers
The San Diego Padres will be in survival mode when they take a season-high seven-game losing streak into Saturday night’s road contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres not only are losing ground to the Dodgers in the standings, their roster has been taking a hit on a daily basis. San Diego placed catcher Freddy Fermin (head contusion) and right-handed starter Randy Vasquez (ankle contusion) on the injured list Friday. Those moves came one day after right-handed reliever Jason Adam (shoulder) was placed on the IL.
Right-handers Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan already are on the IL for the Padres, who will face a Dodgers team that will be without two-way star Shohei Ohtani (right biceps soreness) on Saturday. San Diego is a season-high 14 games behind National League West-leading Los Angeles after leading by a half-game as recently as May 18. The Padres’ seven-game losing streak is their longest since the 2021 season. “It’s tough on everybody, It’s tough on the team, it’s tough on the individuals that it happens to,” manager Craig Stammen said of the injuries, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But also, we know that we’ve got a collective unit that can band together. “We’re making that foxhole tight, and using it as a viewpoint of, like, this is testing us. And what comes from testing? We think perseverance, determination and resilience.” Padres right-hander Griffin Canning (1-5, 7.09 ERA) could use some resilience. He will make his first start in July after posting a 6.98 ERA in five June appearances. In seven career starts against the Dodgers, Canning is 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA. The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-5, 2.67), who is still working on finding success against the Padres. Yamamoto’s 4.60 ERA against them is the highest among the five clubs he has made at least three regular-season starts against. He did earn a win against the Padres last Saturday when he gave up two runs on five hits over six innings. It has been the offense that has led the way for the Dodgers lately. They rallied from a six-run deficit to win the series opener 12-7 on Thursday, then overcame a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning Friday on a grand slam from Teoscar Hernandez to win 4-3. It was Hernandez’s first home run in four games since returning this week from a hamstring injury. “We never feel like we’re down,” Hernandez said on the SportsNet LA broadcast. “We know what we’re capable of, and we know the team we have. It only takes a good at-bat to get on base and somebody is going to take a big swing, and in this case it was me.” Hernandez delivered against one of the Padres’ best relievers in left-hander Adrian Morejon, who was an All-Star last season and entered Friday’s outing with a 3.32 ERA in 39 appearances.
Ohtani went 0-for-3 at the plate on Friday and pitched six innings, giving up three runs and seven hits and acknowledging afterward he was dealing with the biceps soreness that was similar to the short-lived ailment he felt earlier this season. “I can always play, and my desire is to always play,” Ohtani said through an interpreter when asked if he would be in the lineup Saturday. “I feel good enough to be able to do so.”
The Dodgers shut down that idea after the game, however, and said he would have the night off. The Dodgers have won nine of their past 11 games while going 4-1 against the Padres in that stretch. Los Angeles is 6-2 against San Diego this season. –Field Level Media
