Trevor Bauer came into Wednesday’s game looking to halt a potential paradigm shift in the NL West. Expectations did not meet reality, however, as the Padres swept the Dodgers and now have the great gods of momentum working in their favor. 

The Padres were using the complex algorithm of “get ahead and stay ahead” in all three games which is what made this series feel so lopsided. Never having a lead can do that to you.

Bauer looked to be cruising through the first inning after getting Tommy Pham to ground out to Lux at short and getting Tatis to whiff at 97 in the bottom half of the strike zone. Leaving without a run in the first inning would be a monumental feat as the Dodgers had been outscored 6-0 in previous two games. 

With 2 outs and Beat LA chants humming throughout the crowd Jake Cronenworth sent a high and inside 2-1 fastball into the right field seats. 

IS THERE ANYONE THAT CAN STOP JAKE CRONENWORTH!? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!@Padres | #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/WWUcB5CFwD

— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) June 24, 2021

Cronenworth homered in all 3 games and had 6 RBI’s this series nearly matching the 7 total runs the Dodgers put up in the entire series. Seeing a left handed hitting second baseman tear up the Dodgers tear up the Dodgers like that gave me instant flashbacks to Daniel Murphy.

With Beat LA chants running rampant through Petco Park Manny Machado sent a hanging bender into the sky and just like that the broom sticks were sweeping. 

Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado hit back-to-back home runs off of Trevor Bauer in the 1st inning! pic.twitter.com/kRibMeKxqz

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 24, 2021

 

On December 15th,1984 the Seattle Seahawks retired the number 12 jersey in honor of their fans and after last night the Padres should retire the number 10 jersey. This kind of passion bleeds into the game and the Dodgers were constantly working against it all series. It felt like Sisyphus pushing a boulder uphill only for it to roll down as soon as they were about to reach the top. Speaking of rolling… 

#Dodgers Trevor Bauer on #Padres: "They absolutely kicked our ass from an intensity standpoint. They came to play and we didn't. That's what happens in baseball. You try to attack the other team and win and when you don't have that mindset, you get rolled and we got rolled."

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) June 24, 2021

Credit to Bauer for not only using vanilla player jargon to recap the loss, but battling back as well. Might not feel like it now, but this was another defining moment for Bauer. 

He got Eric Hosmer to line out to Bellinger in center field to end the inning and cruised from there.

Between the 2nd and 6th inning he gave up zero earned runs, three hits and 9 strikeouts. After the foreign substance locked down his spin rate and swinging strikes numbers began to dip, but last night proved that he can still perform legally. He ended up with 19 swinging strikes, his most since May 15th against the Marlins. 

Easy as 1⃣2⃣3⃣ pic.twitter.com/tlK9ufWBRr

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) June 24, 2021

 

 

Even had this hilarious moment as well:

Here’s the video of Bauer offering the rosin bag to Musgrove after letting go to the bat. 😂 pic.twitter.com/n2SIoG1a7Y

— DaddyDimmuTV (@DaddyDimmuTv) June 24, 2021

He left the 6th inning with all the momentum in the world

Trevor Bauer with the strikeout, strut and point to the crowd

Love it pic.twitter.com/Hi6GBjp40A

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) June 24, 2021

but this would prove to be the apex of the night. 

I don’t disagree with Bauer being sent out for the 7th inning, but it did prove costly. 

VICTOR CARATINI WITH THE BAT DROP TO GIVE THE PADRES THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/woohEiWqvr

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 24, 2021

 

Heading into the at bat, Victor Caratini was 1-14 in his career against Bauer with 5 strikeouts and in his two previous at bats he was 0-1 with a strikeout and an IBB. The strikeout came on the exact pitch he hit for a home run, because this time it was left hanging and not in the dirt. 

Bauer then walked Jurickson Profar and just like that his night was over. 

Final line: 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 4 BB and 10 K’s.

I’m just as frustrated as the next fan, but there is no reason to act like we are witnessing the downfall of a lightning in the bottle pitcher.

Since May 21st against the Giants his ERA has gone from 1.98 to a whopping 2.57. The guy is clearly still dominating and now leads the NL in total strikeouts with 119. 

He might give up home runs at a high clip, but calling him a disappointment is abysmal.

On to the Cubs we go. 

 

When Matt isn’t blogging about the Dodgers, he’s yelling at his TV because of them.

 

Twitter: @Mattweiner20