San Diego Padres

Takeaways from the Padres' 7-4 win over the Dodgers

Published May. 5, 2018 11:36 p.m. ET

John Horvath

MONTERREY, Mexico-- The San Diego Padres rode a strong performance by the bullpen and home runs by Eric Hosmer and Raffy Lopez en route to a 7-4 victory on Saturday evening at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey.

San Diego improved to 12-22 while Los Angeles fell to 15-18 on the season.

Takeaways:

No-no talk sidelined early

After having been no-hit by four Dodgers pitchers a night ago, the Padres ended the no-hit (and shutout) bid just about as early as they could on Saturday night.

Six pitches into the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Travis Jankowski lined a triple to right-center field. One pitch later, Eric Hosmer homered into the Padres bullpen to give his team an early 2-0 lead.

Mitchell struggles again

Padres starter Bryan Mitchell was seemingly coming into Saturday's start against the Dodgers on a short leash. He did little to lengthen it.

Although he was spotted a two-run lead in the first, Mitchell struggled yet again; only lasting 2 1/3 innings. The former Yankees farmhand allowed five hits and three earned runs. He walked three and struck out two, throwing only 28 of his 55 pitches for strikes. 8 of the 14 batters he faced reached base.

He left the game with one out in the third on a very quick hook by manager Andy Green.

Mitchell now has a 16/26 K/BB ratio in 32 innings this season with a 6.47 ERA. The 27-year-old has thrown six innings only once this season in his seven starts. It will definitely be interesting to see if he gets another start or if the Padres decide to go in a different direction. Mitchell has no minor league options left, so he would have to be either placed on waivers or in the bullpen.

"You're given faith and latitude at the beginning. You get to a point where you have to make a decision for the good of the team," said Andy Green about the right-hander. When asked about Mitchell's future, the skipper said that the coaching staff would sit down and talk about it.

Brett Kennedy, Walker Lockett, Luis Perdomo, and Robbie Erlin would all be potential options to replace him in the rotation.

Padres bullpen comes up big

With only 2 1/3 innings from Mitchell, manager Andy Green needed the bullpen to step up and keep the game within reach. It did just that.

Robbie Erlin, Adam Cimber, Kirby Yates, Craig Stammen, and Brad Hand combined for 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The only run they allowed was when Kirby Yates hit Chris Taylor with a pitch in the 6th.

Yates ended up with the win. Brad Hand recorded his 8th save.

They combined to strike out eight hitters while walking only two in what was a solid, much-needed performance.

Raffy's first Padres hit? A two-run home run

Called up after Austin Hedges hit the disabled list, Padres catcher Raffy Lopez recorded his first hit as a Padre in the sixth inning.

And it was a big one.

With a runner on first and the Padres down 4-3, the 30-year-old catcher lined a 3-1 pitch from Dodgers reliever Josh Fields over the right field fence to make the score 5-4. It was the lefty's 5th career home run.

He later added a single in the 8th as part of a two-run inning for his first multi-hit game of the season.

"Those were two big swings for us, and it was fun to see him have a good day," stated Andy Green after the game.

Matt Kemp continues to haunt former team

Even with the loss, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp continued to rake against Padres pitching. Tonight he went 3-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

He is 9-17 with three home runs and nine RBIs against San Diego this season.

Finally..... Beat LA

The Padres snapped a seven game losing streak against the Dodgers counting back to last season. They are now 1-4 against their division rivals in 2018.