Dodgers Beat Padres In Series Opener As Latinos Fill The Diamond

Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Dodgers and Padres were only one game apart in the NL Western Division entering Friday’s series opener in Hollywood, but are they evenly matched in terms of how they got themselves to the top of their division? A question the baseball industry wonders day by day as the Padres were 29th in home runs in Major League Baseball with 103 before first pitch, while the Dodgers were second with 180.

So it’s not home runs that make the difference in their wins and losses. Batting averages are also close with the Dodgers at .255 and San Diego at .252.

Who they play and when they play them is the difference. The Dodgers have run into a buzz-saw this season with teams they thought they would breeze through, like the 61-61 Cardinals, who went 4-2 this year versus the defending World Series champs and the 59-62 Angels, who swept both home and away series in LA.

Believe it or not, Angels going a perfect 6-0 versus the Dodgers.

With 53,119 in attendance, the 22nd sellout of the season, it had the feel of a postseason playoff game atmosphere at Dodger Stadium, as the Dodgers sent out Clayton Kershaw, 6-2, 3.14, and the Padres countered with spot starter, Wandy Peralta, San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic, 5-1, 3.13 ERA. It would mark Peralta’s second start in his 10-year career.

His last start before Friday came in 2021 for the Yankees.

The Padres got things started when Ramón Laureano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, hit a 4oo-foot bomb into the left field seats in the second inning to give San Diego a one-run lead. Peralta left the game after 1.1 innings as the Padres were going with a bullpen game. His replacement, Randy Vásquez, Navarette, Dominican Republic, would allow two runs to score on three hits by the last three in the Dodger batting order, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Kershaw was removed after six innings with a line of two hits, one run, earned, one walk, three strikeouts, and one home run.

Then it was time for 2024 National League LatinoMVP runner-up Teoscar Hernández, Cotui, Dominican Republic, to get into the act as he blasted a 400-foot home run into the center field pavilion, giving LA a 3-1 lead.

And then, to make it interesting, Alex Vesia came in and hit the first two batters he faced, got a sacrifice bunt out, a walk, and a sacrifice fly, making it a 3-2 game. All on no hits!

The Dodgers would shut the Padres down in the ninth inning and take the first game of this critical three-game series and find themselves tied with the Padres again for first place in the NL West.

There were a total of 14 Latino players in this game tonight, ten were on the Padres who started eight while the Dodgers (four) who started three—provided below is the full list.

PADRES: (69-53)

Freddy Fermin, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic
Ramón Laureano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Jose Iglesias, Havana, Cuba
Luis Arraez, San Felipe, Venezuela.
Manny Machado, of Dominican ethnicity
Xander Bogaerts, Oranjestad, Aruba
Wandy Peralta, San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Randy Vásquez, Navarette, Dominican Republic
Jeremiah Estrada, of Mexican descent

DODGERS: (69-53)

Teoscar Hernández, Cotui, Dominican Republic
Andy Pages, Havana, Cuba
Miguel Rojas, Los Teques, Venezuela & Alexis Díaz, Humacao, Puerto Rico

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