Cody Bellinger, Tyler Anderson complete Dodgers sweep of Padres
Padres owner Peter Seidler was interviewed during ESPN ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ broadcast and said of the Dodgers, “They’re the dragon up the highway that we’re trying to slay.”
San Diego has made incredible strides in roster building this week and in recent years, which should help the Padres both this postseason and in future Octobers. But for now, the Dodgers are the class of the National League West, ending a sweep of San Diego with a 4-0 victory Sunday.
Los Angeles, which allowed just four runs in the three-game series, leads second-place San Diego by 15½ games.
Tyler Anderson made the kill on Sunday, adding to his magical season with seven scoreless innings against San Diego. The left-hander allowed just two singles and a walk, erasing one of those runners on a double play in which he faced just two batters over the minimum.
Anderson, the Dodgers’ innings leader this season, lowered his ERA to 2.72 while striking out three. With the win, Anderson joined Tony Gonsolin in the 13-1 club and went at least seven frames for the sixth time in 2022, most on the team.
This season at home, Anderson is 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA. This was Anderson’s first start at Dodger Stadium since the death of Vin Scully. His first start in Los Angeles came in September 2016, in Scully’s final home run of his 67-year career, won by the Dodgers in the 10th inning on a Charlie Culberson walk-off home run.
Say it out loud
Juan Soto was mic’d up in the bottom of the third inning, a feature that has become more prominent on exclusive broadcasts (ESPN Sunday nights, Fox Saturdays, Peacock Sunday mornings come to mind). It’s usually hard to have a compelling conversation with a player in the field who is actively playing in a game, but Soto was about as engaging as you could hope for given the situation.
The conversation lasted perhaps longer than Soto would have liked, with the Dodgers hitting the ball consistently hard against Yu Darvish for the first time in the game. Cody Bellinger got things going with a home run to center field, with Soto yelling “Stay here” several times and trying to stay in the ballpark, to no avail.
After a Mookie Betts double, Trea Turner nearly added an extra-base hit of his own, only to have Soto track it down near the warning track in right field. Soto is good friends with Turner, having been his teammate for four seasons in Washington, and Soto even famously showed up to Dodger Stadium in last year’s wild card game wearing a Turner jersey to support his former teammate.
Naturally, Soto laughed right after catching Turner’s drive, saying, “Now he’s going to get mad at me.”
Bellinger added another solo home run to virtually the same spot in the seventh against Luis García. It was the second multi-home run game this season, along with April 24 at San Diego.
Of Bellinger’s fifteen home runs this season, a third is against the Padres.
The Dodgers outscored the Padres 20-4 in the weekend series and are 8-2 on the season against San Diego, outscoring them 55-18.
Sunday information
Home run: Cody Bellinger 2 (15)
WP – Tyler Anderson (13-1): 7 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
LP – Yu Darvish (10-5): 6 IP, 7 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts
Next
After eighteen consecutive game days, the Dodgers get their first day off after the break on Monday, then get another on Thursday. In between, the Twins are in town for LA’s final interleague home series of 2022. Julio Urías will start the series opener Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with right-hander Joe Ryan pitching for Minnesota.