The Padres and Dodgers faced off in what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel Monday Night at Petco Park. The Padres won 1-0 behind great pitching from their starter, Michael King, then great relief work from Jason Adam and Mason Miller. On a side note, the Padres gave up their #1 prospect, Leo DeVries, their #3 prospect in RHP Braden Nett, Henry Baez, who was a top 20 prospect, then a hard-throwing right-hander, Eduarniel Núñez10who who had already made his MLB debut.
So, they “Sold the farm,”, as they say, and they sold A LOT of it.
But Mason Miller is the best closer in baseball, so while it was VERY costly, this is the only way organizations like the Padres can consistently get guys like Miller. They can afford to get some Free Agents, but Free Agency can’t be the headliner of their strategy. They can’t compete financially with organizations like the Dodgers, who swim in money, so drafting, growing, using, and or trading for MLB talent is the formula for them. And others like them, and IMO, they’ve done a great job building competitive rosters, then maintaining that over several years now.
So, although I’m not super fond of the Padres, I have to give them their credit. They haven’t won anything, but they’ve consistently been in positions to, and so they deserve credit for that.
The Dodgers dropped to 29-19, and the loss flipped the NL West scoreboard and pushed San Diego back into first place by a 1/2 game. The Padres are now 29-18 despite being one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, and leading that charge are their “superstars” Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., who are both off to very slow starts. and moved into first place by percentage points. Yoshinobu Yamamoto paid for one mistake on a splitter that hung and basically turned into a BP pitch, and it led to a solo home run by Miguel Andújar. Little did any of us know that would be the ONLY run scored for the ENTIRE evening.
For the Dodgers, the frustration centered around missed opportunities against Padres right-hander Michael King, who continued his mastery over Los Angeles by throwing seven shutout innings while striking out nine.
Dodgers Give Yamamoto NO Run Support…AGAIN
Yamamoto deserved a better outcome, as he has many times this year. And, beyond just the results, trying to pitch knowing that you can’t make any mistakes makes it much more difficult to execute over and over. You’re in “crisis” mode from the first to the last pitch you throw.
Yamamoto, after giving up the 1st innign home run, settled in and gave an ace performance going seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking two on 107 pitches.
Outside of ONE swing, Yamamoto completely controlled the Padres’ lineup.
He struck out Gavin Sheets twice, who had been the Padres’ best hitter, and he punched out Manny Machado twice, which makes me VERY happy. He mixed his splitter and fastball effectively, and, after the first inning, San Diego managed just two hits the rest of the way against him.
Yamamoto lowered his ERA to 3.32, but his performance was far better than the final result suggested. The right-hander lowered hard contact for most of the evening and consistently won ahead in counts.
“I feel like I was kind of pressing a bit early on, and then that’s for me, the hardest part in the game. And after that, I searched for the right feel.”
“ At the beginning, settling into the game, that’s been a little challenge to me. However, I started feeling better every time I go up there. In my mind, I know how to fix it, that challenge, and I’m going to work on it.”
Kyle Hurt worked a scoreless eighth inning and allowed one hit to Fernando Tatis Jr., who was erased when Will Smith threw him out trying to steal.
Hurt’s season ERA remained at 0.69.
Why Yamamoto Was So Effective
Yamamoto’s arsenal was very good, and, beyond the 1st inning hanger, that includes his splitter.
He used it 25% of the time and generated a 44% whiff rate, and then he averaged 96.2 on his four-seamer and touched 97.4 mph. So, his fastball, which he was throwing slightly harder than his season average, set up everything else.
His sinker was valuable against right-handed hitters, and got him a lot of ground balls, and his cutter generated a 38% called-strike-plus-whiff rate.
Dodgers Offense Silenced by Michael King
The Dodgers entered last night on an offensive uptick and showing signs they were ready to break out. And, they still likely will, but it dang sure didn’t happen last night. Shohei Ohtani got 2 hits, but, beyond that, the Dodgers got just 3 other hits total.
Ohtani came into Sunday hitting .500 over his last five games with a 1.450 OPS.
Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker have been hot, but they went a combined 0-6. Hernández was hitting .333 over the last week, and Tucker had posted an .876 OPS during that stretch as well. Freddie Freeman continued to struggle, going 0 for 2, and saw his average dip to .254. He’s hitting just .174 in his last 23 at-bats.
King, needless to say, as he usually does, neutralized the Dodgers’ offense.
The Dodgers, again, managed just five hits and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They also struck out 10 times and had a night that was frustrating, but, TBH, one where you just tip your cap to the pitching of San Diego.
The Dodgers threatened in the sixth inning after Andy Pages led off with a single, but that was quickly erased when Teo hit into a double play right behind it. Hyeseong Kim got things started back up with a hit, then Ohtani followed with a swingin’ bunt, then the ball was thrown into right field, Hyeseong Kim was set to score all the way from first, but Dino Ebel put up the stop sign. Betts popped out, and that was that.
As per the decision to send or stay, here are my thoughts!
I think it's okay for several things to be true here all at the same time. Dino, even if Kim got thrown out, should have sent Kim. 2 outs, the next hitter has a 75% chance of getting out, so you play the odds that there is a better than 25% chance that Tatis Jr. doesn't execute,… pic.twitter.com/fMU17vcbAw
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) May 19, 2026
The Dodgers also had a very promising start to the ninth when Freddie Freeman and Tucker both walked against closer Mason Miller to start the inning. But Will Smith flew out, Max Muncy struck out, and Pages grounded into a force out to end the game.
Ohtani finished 2-for-3 with two walks and raised his season average to .265 with an .850 OPS. Pages added a hit and is now batting .299 with a .865 OPS on the season. Kim also reached twice and lifted his average to .278.
Freeman went hitless but drew two walks. Dude is totally awesome, but is still looking to break out of a recent slump, entering the night hitting just .105 over his last six games.
“I mean, scoring [Mason Miller] is going to be very hard to do. … we still have really good at-bats. […] we had an opportunity, maybe with him throwing a lot of pitches, might make him be down in the next game… you’re just trying to have little wins in a case of this series.”
“We know they have a good bullpen, I mean they brought in [Adam], you got [Mory Holmes] sitting down there, you got Mason Miller, you still have [Estrada]… so you know in this kind of series you know you’re going to have close games, and we just couldn’t get it done tonight.” [1]
How Michael King Shut Down the Dodgers
King’s pitch mix kept the Dodgers at bay all night.
The Dodger killer threw 100 pitches in seven shutout innings, allowed just four hits, struck out nine, and lowered his ERA to 2.31 on the season.
The biggest weapon was his changeup. He got six whiffs on 12 swings, mainly on strike-to-ball concepts where the pitch would start in the zone, then dive out, making the swing decisions very tough. The Dodgers chased below the zone, and when paired with the late movement of his sinker, that’s a really tough combination.
King also mixed in a sweeper that produced a 42% called-strike-plus-whiff rate, which meant it beat hitters “in the zone”, usually used as ball-to-strike offerings. He also got ahead a lot, so he controlled counts, which kept the Dodgers guessing. And, when you’re throwing ball-to-strike, strike-to-ball, with late movement, multiple shapes, and doing so from a position of advantage ahead in the count. Just tip your cap to that.
He threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of 24 hitters and finished with a 65% strike rate overall.
Perhaps most importantly, King disrupted the Dodgers’ timing by constantly changing eye levels and movement profiles. The sinker ran in on righties, the changeup faded away from lefties, and the sweeper kept hitters from sitting on velocity.
The Dodgers produced only four batted balls over 95 mph against him and struggled to square up anything consistently.
“King was really good tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “He changed speeds, expanded late, and never really let us get comfortable offensively.”
“We had some opportunities, but we just didn’t get it done” Roberts added.
Kyle Hurt Continues to Impress
Kyle Hurt’s inning was short but effective.
Hurt sat 96.3 mph and threw strikes on five of six pitches overall. ]Meanwhile, Mason Miller slammed the door for San Diego, working around the back-to-back walks he issued to start the 9th.
Miller was over 100 on his fastball, which he normally is, and mixed that with an upper-80s slider. His fastball beats hitters in the zone, then his slider keeps hitters from sitting on his FB to get it timed up. If you do that, then he drops a slider, and you’re WAY out front. It’s tough when you have to gear up for that type of velo, so, again, tip your cap, and do your best NOT to be in the position of having to score against him to keep from losing.
The Dodgers did not get a hit against Miller, and when the last out was recorded on an Andy Pages ground ball, Miller had recorded his 15th save and lowered his ERA to 0.82.
Top Performers
Dodgers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 2 BB (3.32 ERA)
Shohei Ohtani: 2-for-3, 2 BB (.265 AVG, .850 OPS)
Andy Pages: 1-for-4 (.299 AVG, .865 OPS)
Hyeseong Kim: 1-for-2, BB (.278 AVG)
Kyle Hurt: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER (0.69 ERA)
Padres
Michael King: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 9 K (2.31 ERA)
Miguel Andújar: 2-for-4, HR, RBI (.298 AVG, .823 OPS)
Mason Miller: Save, 1 IP, 0 H, 1 K (0.82 ERA)
The Dodgers and Padres will do it all over again on Tuesday night at Petco Park; the first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PDT. The Dodgers are scheduled to send Emmet Sheehan to the mound, and he’ll be opposite Griffin Canning, who enters with an ERA of 10.64. That’s one of the GREATEST things about baseball, you get to show up and do it again the NEXT day. That NEXT day is today, so LFG!
