by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers are tied for first in the National League West with the Padres, again. They share the division lead after San Diego held off a ninth-inning Dodger rally for a 2–1 victory on Friday
The divisional race has gained momentum with the season’s end nearing, especially with only two games left between the Dodgers and Padres.
The Dodgers are now 8–3 against San Diego. Five of those matchups have been decided by one run — but Friday’s was the first of those lost by Los Angeles.
Alex Freeland’s first career homer provided the lone run of support for Blake Snell in the lefty’s first seven-inning start of 2025.
“It’s bittersweet,” Freeland said. “It’s cool that I hit my first career home run, but the only thing I care about is winning the game.”
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The Dodger lineup went 3-for-28 against starter Yu Darvish and the Padre bullpen, with two of those hits coming in the ninth inning. Following Shohei Ohtani’s 388-foot flyout to deep center leading off the final frame, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman each singled to put runners at the corners with two out against closer Robert Suarez but were stranded with a game-ending strikeout by Teoscar Hernández.
Los Angeles went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left four runners on base on Friday.
“I don’t think (Darvish) missed many pitches over the plate. He was hitting every corner,” Hernández said. “We tried to put the ball in play. We tried to attack him early, but it didn’t happen.”
Snell was strong in seven innings with five strikeouts against his former team. He gave up only two earned runs on six hits and two walks.
“That was a bright spot,” Dave Roberts said. “I thought Blake was fantastic tonight. Really good lineup. The way he navigated it, he got through seven innings. Just a stellar performance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out Darvish.”
The Dodgers are now 24–10 against teams in the National League West. Tyler Glasnow will start the second game of the series on Saturday.
Dodgers lose ground with tough landing in San Diego was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.