Aaron Harang returned to his old stomping grounds of 2011 on Sunday in Petco Park. He enjoyed some success there, going 8-5 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, holding opponents to a .240 AVG.
That guy, however, didn't show up.
The one that did allowed 13 baserunners in a little over four innings of work as the Dodgers fell behind 4-0 early. Chase Headley's grand slam off of Scott Elbert put it away for good, as the Dodgers suffered their first blemish of the season, 8-4. The first series is wrapped up at 3-1.
The tone for the afternoon was set early on, as the Dodgers went down in order to start the game, and Cameron "Tiki" Maybin was beaned leading off. An RBI single by Jesus Guzman and sac-fly RBI by Yonder Alonso made it 2-0 after one.
Harang didn't go one inning without allowing a runner, and gave up another run the following inning. This time it wasn't so much his fault, as Dee Gordon's two-out error gave the Padres new life. Following a walk to Alonso, Jeff Baker's RBI single made it 3-0.
Andy Parrino stretched it 4-0 with a solo homer in the fourth. After Parrino walked to load the bases in the fifth, Jamey Wright had to come in, and he did the unthinkable: throw a strike. Seriously, you would have never thought it was possible after watching Saturday's game. But this time he got Clayton Richard to ground into an inning-ending double play to at least keep the game manageable.
The Dodgers tried to make a run in the sixth, and it started thanks to another Padres' error. Mark Ellis reached on Will Venable's bobble leading off. With two outs, Matt Kemp hit his second big fly of the season to make it 4-2.
Any thoughts of a comeback were erased in the eighth, as Todd Coffey and Elbert combined to do a big pile of nothing. Coffey started by giving up singles to Jeremy Hermida and Maybin. Elbert was summoned, and immediately watched Venable bunt his way on to load the bases. Headley hadn't gotten a hit all year, but with one mighty swing, he put that aside as his grand slam made it 8-2.
Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer in the ninth, but it was obviously too little, too late at that point.
Harang looked every bit like the last starter that he is, as he was never able to settle in at any point. He lasted 4 1/3 innings for seven hits, four runs (three earned), five walks, and six strikeouts. Like Chris Capuano the night before, that's just way too many free passes to a weak-hitting team.
I'll give Wright credit for getting a big double play ball in the fifth, as he needed a good outing. Josh Lindblom put in another great appearance, tossing two scoreless frames. He's looking good.
Coffey and Elbert, however, do not. Their poor work in the eighth took away any hope at a big ending for the Dodgers. I'm not so sure much is expected from Coffey, as he's just average at best. But Elbert is the only lefty in the 'pen, so he needs to get it going. He appeared in two games and gave up hits both times. He did end last season with a 2.43 ERA in 47 appearances, so hopefully this is just a little bump in the road.
Even with the loss, the Dodgers will take three of four to open the season, no matter how bad the Padres may be. And if you peek at the schedule, they have plenty of more chances to win against bad opponents. The Pirates come to town for three starting Tuesday, followed by the Padres for three more. They then visit the Brewers for three, who are good, but then play the Astros on the road for three more.
Total it all up, and that's 9 winnable games in the next 12. Of course, the flip side is that if they don't win as many of those games, the opponents soon get harder too. But it's not a stretch to say they should be right at the top of the NL West by the time May rolls around.
Monday is an off day to travel back home. The home opener is Tuesday against the Pirates. The Dodgers will be celebrating 50 years at beautiful Dodger Stadium, which is just amazing. Clayton Kershaw will get the start, and our fingers are crossed that he will go as scheduled after a bout with the flu this past week.
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