The Dodgers roster might look significantly different in the wake of five additions before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
But in a 6-5 walk-off loss to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, the team’s recent on-field scuffles seemed eerily unchanged.
Amid several weeks of blown leads and other close calls from the Dodgers’ overworked bullpen, the team squandered another late advantage in its series opener at Petco Park, when right-hander Blake Treinen gave up two solo home runs that tied the score in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Up to that point, the Dodgers had appeared to be cruising to their first post-deadline win.
They scored five runs in a first inning punctuated by Cavan Biggio’s two-run blast. They got a seven-inning, three-run start from staff ace Tyler Glasnow, his longest outing in more than a month.
And when Treinen took the mound for the ninth-inning save, protecting a 5-3 lead, the Dodgers were on the verge of putting further distance between themselves and the second-place Padres, who had climbed within 6 ½ games of their Southern California rivals in the National League West standings.
Instead, Manny Machado hit a leadoff dinger to left center. Jackson Merrill followed with a tying blast to right two batters later.
Then in the 10th, pinch-hitter Donovan Solano walked it off with a game-winning single against Alex Vesia, dropping the Dodgers to 11-12 since the start of July.
