Jul 31, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano (12) hits a home run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-USA TODAY Sports Luis Campusano homered while Dylan Cease won his fourth straight start as the San Diego Padres earned a two-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers with an 8-1 victory on Wednesday.
In his first outing since no-hitting the Washington Nationals on July 25, Cease (11-8) allowed three hits and a run in 5 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out six. Cease has permitted just five hits and one run over his past four starts, covering 27 2/3 innings, and he has fanned 36 during that span.
Clayton Kershaw (0-1) lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his second start of the year, giving up six hits and seven runs (three earned). Kershaw walked one and didn’t record a strikeout as Los Angeles’ lead over San Diego in the National League West fell to 4 1/2 games — the Dodgers’ smallest margin since May 4.
The Padres won for the ninth time in 10 games while the Dodgers fell for the fourth time in five games.
Campusano and Jurickson Profar each had two hits and two RBIs to spark the Padres’ 12-hit attack that got some help from shaky defense. The Dodgers committed three errors that led to four unearned runs.
Kershaw did some of the damage to himself during a four-run second. After Campusano initiated the scoring with an RBI single that plated Jackson Merrill, Kershaw bobbled Bryce Johnson’s safety squeeze bunt for an error that made it 2-0. Luis Arraez knocked in Campusano with a groundout, and Profar cashed in Johnson with a two-out RBI single.
Los Angeles ended Cease’s scoreless streak at 24 innings via Gavin Lux’s run-scoring double in the third, but even that play carried a whiff of failure. Shohei Ohtani tried to score on a wild throw back into the infield and was cut down at the plate for the third out.
San Diego blew it open in the fourth with three runs. Campusano lined his seventh homer of the year to left, Profar hit another RBI single and Xander Bogaerts delivered a sacrifice fly for a 7-1 edge.
Merrill capped the scoring in the seventh with a run-scoring double off the top of the right field wall.
–Field Level Media
