Padres’ stars go quiet again in series loss to Dodgers

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres (29-20) failed to take advantage in their first series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (31-19), which was evident in their 4-0 loss on Wednesday night.

The Padres have been near the top of the NL in the first two months of the season, but they had their real test against the Dodgers and failed.

“We knew we were in for a test,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “It's always fun to battle against the best. We battled them as tough as we could and came out on the short end of the stick.”

The reason they lost two out of three against the Dodgers is because of the lack of impact from their big three. In the first part of the season, their top bats have been Gavin Sheets, Miguel Andújar and Ty France. It needs to be Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill.

Machado is batting around .179, while Tatis Jr. hasn’t hit a home run this season, and Merrill left Wednesday’s game with some sort of back injury.

“He's trying to impact the game in different ways until he finds a swing,” Stammen said of Tatis Jr.

When Machado was asked Tuesday night if he had any theories on his struggles, his answer had some snap to it.

“I’m a baseball player, I’m not a theorist,” Machado said. “You got something for me?”

The problem is, if the Padres want to compete against teams like the Dodgers, those guys need to show up. The Padres trio hit 6-for-29 in the series, which isn’t sustainable.

It wasn’t good enough Tuesday or Wednesday. There have been multiple times, like Monday, when Michael King bailed them out with a great performance.

Dodgers starting pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani gave the Padres a lot of trouble Wednesday. It was his first game doing both since April 22.

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

May 20, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run during the first inning as San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) looks on at Petco Park.

As a pitcher, Ohtani went five innings, allowing three hits while striking out four and walking two. He carried a 0.82 ERA into Wednesday night and lived up to it. At the plate, he went 1-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored.

On the Padres side, Randy Vásquez pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and three runs while walking three and failing to record a strikeout.

Ohtani didn’t waste any time making an impact. On the first pitch Vásquez threw, Ohtani sent a deep drive to center field. Merrill, known for robbing home runs, couldn’t come up with this one. The Dodgers superstar’s eighth home run of the season gave Los Angeles an early 1-0 lead.

“When he was going up to rob the home run, the first pitch of the game,” Stammen said of Merrill. “He just hit his back on the fence and just was feeling some discomfort in that area.”

In the top of the second inning, Max Muncy led off with a double to right field, followed by a single from Will Smith that moved Muncy to third. Teoscar Hernández followed with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Muncy for a 2-0 lead.

A missed opportunity came in the bottom of the fourth for San Diego when Sheets singled to left, moving Andújar to second. Machado and Xander Bogaerts were unable to bring them home as both popped out.

“We definitely had some opportunities to break it open, and a couple double plays nip that in the bud,” Stammen said. “So, we got to come up with a hit in that situation, or good at bat, and we just weren't able to tonight.”

In the top of the fifth, Ohtani and Mookie Betts were walked to start the inning. When Freddie Freeman grounded the ball, Tatis Jr. threw to Bogaerts, but the Padres only got Betts out instead of turning a double play. Kyle Tucker followed with an RBI single to right field, extending the lead to 3-0.

When the Padres came to bat, Bryce Johnson and Nick Castellanos singled to put two runners on. Ramón Laureano grounded the ball back to Ohtani, who threw out Castellanos at second. Freddy Fermin then walked, giving Tatis Jr. a chance to hit his first home run of the season, but he grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Padres’ last real opportunity came in the bottom of the eighth when Laureano singled to right and Tatis Jr. reached base after an error by Muncy on a throw to first. Andújar grounded into a double play, ending the threat.

“We’re not creating anything, it's a problem,” Bogaerts said. “But one of those days where it wasn't meant to go to the shortstop for a double play, which is pretty crazy.”

Even though the Dodgers didn’t need it, Hernández added insurance in the ninth with a home run to left-center field, sealing the 4-0 victory.

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

May 20, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) kneels on second base after being forced out during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.

“We won the first game, but one base hit with runners in scoring position away from maybe getting a little bit more going,” Bogaerts said.

Tatis Jr. remains the biggest talking point because he is hitting .239 without a single home run this season. At times, it seems he is swinging at pitches he would not have chased in the past, but Stammen remains confident they will help him work through it.

“It’s up to us coaches to talk to Fernando and be able to pat him on the back and try to teach patience to him and preach patience to him to help him get through this struggle, probably the biggest struggle that he's had in his major league career at the plate,” Stammen said.

Bogaerts said he went through a similar slump in his career and feels for his teammate. He believes once one home run goes over the fence, more will follow.

“I’m telling you, it's just that one to go over, even if it's inside a parker,” Bogaerts said. “It still counts as a homer. So just one, and then he'll go.”

San Diego needs its highest-paid stars to find their bats because the offensive struggles will continue if they can’t produce. The Padres also went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position during the series, which simply is not good enough.

“Would have been nice to win the series, but we didn’t,” Bogaerts said. “Tomorrow is an off day, very much needed and come in Friday, and whoever we're facing, be ready.”

The Padres will have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series against the Athletics. Walker Buehler (3-2) is expected to start for San Diego against a yet-to-be-announced starter for the visiting team.