The Dodgers' 11-1 loss to the Padres on Tuesday night was a tough watch. LA went to a bullpen game (again) and put Lou Trivino on the mound to set the table for Matt Sauer, a minor league signing from the offseason who has already been optioned and recalled four times this season as a part of the Dodgers' reliever carousel.
Trivino pitched a clean first inning (well, clean enough after he hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch), and then Sauer got out of the second inning without much trouble. And then things got bad.
The Padres scored three runs off of Sauer in the third, one in the fourth, one in the fifth, then four more in the sixth before Dave Roberts finally took mercy on him and yanked him — only to replace him with Kiké Hernández to take care of the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense could hardly get a hit off of Dylan Cease, who put on a clinic; seven innings, zero runs despite five walks, and 11 strikeouts. The only thing that kept them from being shut out was a Michael Conforto RBI single in the eighth.
Roberts clearly wasn't interested in putting his best out there, even against the Padres, who Roberts conceded were the Dodgers' rivals (contrary to Max Muncy's opinion) and who Dodgers fans hate losing to more than anyone in recent years.
But Roberts echoed an earlier sentiment from Will Smith, who said after LA's Monday win that it "just felt like another game in June." Roberts said, "Outside of it just being a division opponent and us trying to find a way to win a game, it really doesn’t have any extra impact."
Dodgers leave Matt Sauer out to give up nine runs to hated division rival Padres
The Padres will seize any opportunity to talk about how much better they are than the Dodgers, while the Dodgers kind of just bat them away like they're annoying, lingering flies. Manager Mike Schildt said San Diego has "unfinished business" with LA. Reliever Jason Adam said his team was better. Manny Machado could say any number of colorful things about his former team.
But the Dodgers are just playing another game in June, and Roberts couldn't be swayed to put his best on the mound, even if it would've given the team a better chance at putting on the show Dodgers fans wanted to see.
Brent Honeywell Jr.'s comments from last year's NLCS remain relevant: the Dodgers save the dogs. With the amount of wear and tear on the pitching staff as it is, they couldn't have afford to trot out seven different relievers in a game where the offense clearly just wasn't clicking. Fans always want to see the Dodgers play their best baseball specifically against the Padres, but the Dodgers want to save that for October.
